The penguins wrapped up their training camp at Cranberry on Saturday with a scrimmage.
It was by far the most combative and intense of the four scrimmages they staged during their preparation for the NHL postseason tournament in August.
Add seven goals, some outstanding reel saves and even one goal annulled thanks to a kicked puck, this scrimmage had a bit of everything and suggested that the Penguins were ready for the playoffs.
With one exception.
Sidney Crosby.
The Penguins captain again was not involved in the scrimmage, but instead worked on the team’s auxiliary track for about an hour with reserve goalkeeper Casey DeSmith and a coach. In addition to participating in Friday’s practice, Crosby has been working primarily separately since he abruptly left a practice game on July 18.
The team has not officially revealed the reason for Crosby’s absences, citing the NHL’s new rules for withholding medical information during the coronavirus pandemic. But Crosby almost confirmed that he has been dealing with a minor physical ailment while speaking to reporters via video conference after Saturday’s scrimmage.
He also expressed optimism that he could resume practice Monday in Toronto and play the Philadelphia Flyers in an exhibition game Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena.
“Monday is the earliest I guess in terms of (practicing) with the team,” Crosby said. “I hope I can skate with the team on Monday and just take it from there. Ideally, you could play in that game. If not, just go one day at a time from there. But I hope I can get into that game. ”
The decision to keep him away from so many games and practices has been a precautionary one.
Identifying the specific nature of Crosby’s condition is a matter of speculation, but since most workouts seem to focus on edge work and involve him skating with closed, confined movements, it is a reasonable assumption that his illness is what Most coaches could label the phrase “lower-” body “designation.
In any case, he offered an optimistic assessment of his well-being.
“It felt pretty good,” said Crosby. “I had skated alone on the (runway) for a good amount of time. It was good to go out with the boys and have a little more of a game situation. But I felt good. ”
After missing 28 games between November and January due to a central muscle injury, Crosby seems set to ease his way back to a normal routine rather than fight whatever ails him.
“Something like that takes a while,” he said. “The more you play and stress it, I think it responds better over time.”
Jumping onto the main court for practice on Friday, Crosby was greeted as a conquering hero by his teammates who applauded him by “clapping” their sticks on the ice.
“It speaks to the respect he has among his teammates and the importance he gives to our team,” said coach Mike Sullivan. “When Sid is part of active practice, I think it raises our level of intensity and execution to the full.”
There seems to be little concern from Crosby about his ability to do it next week for the team’s first practice in Toronto or his exhibition contest.
“Ideally, I would have liked to get in a little bit more with the practice games and the game situation (drills),” said Crosby. “But with that said, I think the fact that I’ve been able to skate for a long time will help overcome that.”
“Things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully, I can get into that exhibition game. ”
Seth Rorabaugh is a writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Seth by email at [email protected] or by Twitter.
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