The Penguins introduced Wednesday that captain Sidney Crosby will miss a minimal of six weeks after present process surgical procedure on his left wrist.
“This isn’t a brand new harm for Sid. It’s one thing that he has performed via for years,” mentioned basic supervisor Ron Hextall within the crew’s announcement. “After exhausting all minimally-invasive choices and far dialogue, it was determined that surgical procedure was in his greatest curiosity.”
The 34-year-old star will miss coaching camp, which is scheduled to start in mid-September and is predicted to be sidelined for at the least the primary week of the season. Pittsburgh opens up its 2021-22 marketing campaign on Oct. 12 towards the two-time defending champion Lightning in Tampa Bay.
This isn’t the one time Crosby has confronted wrist points. Final yr, on Aug. 31, he had arthroscopic left wrist debridement surgical procedure, per then-GM Jim Rutherford. He didn’t miss any time in the course of the 2021 common season because of the wrist; his lone missed recreation was as a result of COVID-19 protocols. In 55 video games he notched 62 factors (24 objectives, 38 assists) however did wrestle within the postseason towards the Islanders. Throughout the six-game collection, Crosby netted simply two factors because the crew misplaced within the first spherical.
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The 2021-22 season is slated to be a full 82-game schedule, and whereas dropping their captain for a handful of video games should not influence their playoff possibilities, the Penguins window is unquestionably closing with its ageing stars. Crosby’s long-time teammate in Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin, underwent proper knee surgical procedure firstly of June and his return date is to be decided across the begin of camp.
Crosby, who’s coming into his seventeenth NHL season, has registered 486 objectives and 839 assists in 1,039 video games. This yr ought to be a giant one for “Sid the Child” who will not be solely 14 objectives shy of 500 and 75 brief of 1,400 factors, can be earmarked for Canada’s roster on the 2022 Winter Olympic Video games.