Around The NHL: Sidney Crosby Out Of All Star Lineup, Savard Injured Again

Added on Jan 24, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Sidney Crosby Out Of All Star Lineup

If you were expecting Sidney Crosby to repeated what he did two years ago at the All-Star game, I have some bad news for you. 2 years ago, although Crosby was sidelined with a knee injury, he still attended the All Star festivities. Penguins General Manager Ray Shero has said Crosby will not be making an appearance at this years All Star game.

Shero said Crosby is coming along and is making progress, but is not yet symptom free. He said “The Penguins organization has decided that he will not attend the NHL All-Star Weekend and instead will continue to relax and recuperate in the hopes of returning to our lineup soon.”

Crosby cleaned up on fan polls, and was the top vote-getter over all the players that could be picked. Unfortunately, he has missed 9 games since January 5, and hasn’t returned to the ice since. Shero concluded “However, in this situation — when he has not even skated for two and a half weeks and still has not been cleared to resume physical activity — we think it’s best for him to focus totally on his recovery.”

Crosby absorbed a blindside hit to the head from Capitals forward David Steckel during the Jan. 1 Winter Classic outdoor game, and said he initially felt only neck soreness. He felt worse by Jan. 5, but played that night against Tampa Bay, during which he was driven into the boards headfirst by Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.

Savard Injured Again

Boston Bruins Center Marc Savard, who returned to the ice after suffering a head injury for the second time in a week, is expected to be checked out by team doctors on Monday. Savard was expected to accompany the team to Los Angeles, but he has headed back to Boston. During Saturday’s game at Colorado, Savard was chasing a puck when former teammate Matt Hunwick checked him early in the second period. Savard arrived in Boston on Sunday afternoon with assistant equipment manager Matt Falconer.

Bruins Coach Claude Julien said after practice in Los Angeles, “He flew back today and I guess he just got back late this afternoon. Nothing has happened since he left or since he got back to Boston, so I haven’t heard of anything yet. We may not find out anything until Monday.”

Savard missed the first 23 games of this season due to post-concussion syndrome from a Grade 2 concussion suffered last March.