CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Brief and to the Point ....
• I'm not a doctor, and I won't play one in this column. But upon speaking with several folks inside the Penguins after their announcement Monday afternoon that Sidney Crosby has another concussion, I can confidently share the following five semi-conclusive stances I've reached:
1. The symptoms aren't what they were in his first go-round, meaning not as severe.
Now, concussion symptoms can vary week to week, day to day, so that's subject to change. Everything is subject to change with this ailment. But I talked to people who were with him over the weekend -- including away from the Penguins' FanFest Sunday, where he was in public signing autographs, as well as the team's ring party Monday night Downtown -- whose descriptions of his symptoms were nothing close to some of the seriously nasty stuff from the Winter Classic collision at Heinz Field.
2. It might have been a turn of the head, rather than actual impact, that caused it.
This comes from one source inside the team, though I'll again caution that this stuff is maddeningly never precise. Too much emphasis is generally placed on impact when discussing concussions in sports. The greater risk, medical people will attest, comes from violent motion that displaces the brain. Like whiplash. Or a wild left-to-right turn. And the latter is seen as worse because the brain doesn't get back home as easily.
3. Man, the Penguins' players were rattled.
We were tipped to Crosby's concussion tests two hours before the team announced but, as the journalistic worm turns, weren't able to confirm it with a strong enough source to report. Still, I had it at the forefront of my mind after practice -- but before the announcement -- in talking to players about other topics, and it was easy to tell something was amiss. Guys who are never uptight suddenly were uptight.
There's no point asking NHL players about teammates' injuries, so I wouldn't even bother. But they still showed so much with their reactions that, really, it was impressive to see the respect and adoration the captain commands in his locker room.
4. The Penguins sound more trustworthy this time ... and for a simple reason.
Both the team and UPMC lost a lot of trust with their bungling of concussions, mumps and much else in the recent past, so having Mike Sullivan deliver the announcement felt like a masterstroke.
I mean, when Sullivan says this in that super-authoritative voice, you just take it without question: “We take all of the concussions that our players get afflicted with seriously. Our medical staff follows strict guidelines. There’s a certain protocol. That’s how our team operates. Health is the priority.”
Yes, sir.
5. The team will more than get by.
For one, the Penguins are blessed with enough centers that excessively-NHL-ready Oskar Sundqvist was about to be deemed an afterthought. Matt Cullen will be capable, even at age 91, of centering a second line. And Evgeni Malkin ... well, we've all witnessed where his elevator goes when Crosby's out.
For another, hey, it's October. And not last October, when the collective was flailing to find an identity under Mike Johnston. This group knows exactly what it is, and that's not about to change.
• I know, I know, we all wanted to blame Gary Bettman's Fake Olympics. Well, that's very much off the table, from what I've been told. Didn't happen there. Happened here, Friday at practice.
That makes the tournament no less irrelevant, though.
• It's almost hockey season!
Nah, never mind the calendar. Just scroll through your news feed to find that the Flyers already have a guy suspended for six games for a preseason boarding major:
MORE PENGUINS
Yoheh: Crosby diagnosed with concussion
Rorabaugh: Timeline of Crosby’s head and neck issues
Yohe: Sullivan never satisfied
DK Sports Radio: Benz on Penguins