One Step Closer

Sid's looking at rejoining the Pens' lineup as early as tomorrow! From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dave Molinari:

Sidney Crosby seems optimistic that he will be back in the Penguins' lineup when the New York Islanders visit Mellon Arena tomorrow night.

"That's definitely a possibility," he said yesterday. "I'd definitely like to play that game."

Crosby, who is nursing a high ankle sprain, participated in the Penguins' game-day skate at the Prudential Center, then stayed on the ice for extra work with assistant coach Mike Yeo.

When he returned to the locker room, Crosby was sweating profusely, with no indication the flow of perspiration was going to slow anytime soon. [snoop: QUICK! Someone get him some Axe body spray...]

We're THISCLOSE to seeing this again...

"This is a lot harder than playing, when you have to deal with this every day," he said. "I'm looking forward to getting back. It's just conditioning, to make sure I'm in shape. I feel pretty strong, as far as the ankle goes."

This is most welcome news for two reasons. First and foremost, it's a good move now that the Pens have clinched their playoff berth to give the Saint some time with his new linemate, Marian Hossa. It's necessary to give them a few games to get a rhythm going before the playoffs begin. You don't want to see it take them 3 or 4 games to get acclimated to one another when they're playing in a best of seven series, that's for sure!

Secondly, this bodes well for me for purely selfish reasons, as my husband and I will be attending the last home game of the season. :) So if for some reason I'm not lucky enough to get my hands on playoff tickets, it will be the last time this season that we'll get to see Sid in action.

Thanks go out to good Friend of The Show Bill in NS for alerting me to this development.

Today's photo comes courtesy of good Friend of The Show Pensgirl. She took it at the Mellon on November 17, 2007 when the Rangers came to town.