Sidney Crosby is out for the season! Wait, maybe not!

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that most hockey fans have been watching and listening to how Sidney Crosby has been doing this off season. The captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins has been out since early January with a concussion after being hit in the head twice in back to back games and reports from everyone and their mothers have been saying different things.

There were the rumours back in March that Sid was considering an early retirement, encouraged by his parents. Those were shot down. There were reports he was to make a comeback during the Stanley Cup playoffs series against Tampa Bay. Again, those were false. Now in the off season, rumours have been rampant that Crosby may not be ready for preseason or the start of the season. Some people have gone as far as to say he will be out for the rest of the season, despite the fact that he has been working out and skating over the summer.

Today, some sources told CTV Atlantic that Crosby suffered a setback while practicing and will miss the season completely, sending most fans into a tizzy. Crosby’s agent, Pat Brisson, quickly shut everyone up, saying “Sidney hasn’t been shut down by anyone. He has simply adjusted his summer program accordingly to the different needs for the appropriate recovery. Training camp is in three weeks from now. It is too premature to speculate all kinds of deliberate information at his point.

“Sidney will address the media at the appropriate time in order to give everyone an update. As far as I know training camp hasn’t started yet.”

This is about the third time this has happened during the off season this year. People are quick to point out that Crosby himself hasn’t spoken to the media. Yet they fail to realize that he never really does talk to them in the off season, and hasn’t discussed his status in the media. Concussions are a tricky injury to monitor, and each one is different. Whatever Crosby is feeling now may not be how he feels tomorrow or next week. So to say he’s out for the rest of the season is kind of idiotic.

As hard as it is to see him out for so long, it’s just best we let Sid take as much time as he needs to be fully ready and be back doing what he loves to do best.

• Sidney Crosby