NHL Star Crosby Back on Ice, Kane Injured

When it comes to the status of their star players this week brought good news to Pittsburgh Penguin fans and bad news to Chicago Blackhawk fans.

Penguin star Sidney Crosby who missed the entire second half of last season and the playoffs due to symptoms from a concussion suffered from back-to-back blows to the head is back on the ice and has resumed his normal offseason workout routine.  This is a welcome sight for a team that at times struggled to score goals without him.

Crosby was on a torrid pace last season before being hurt. He was leading the NHL with 32 goals and 34 assists and was showing everyone that he is the best player in the world. The team was on fire winning 27 of their first 41 games including a stretch of 12 straight. They were clearly the team to beat in the East and look like they were well on their way to another deep playoff run and shot at the Stanley Cup. Then David Steckel clipped him in the head during the Winter Classic. During their next game against Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman slammed Crosby head first into the end boards. With that second blow to the head in as many games Crosby was done for the season and with him their hopes of another cup run.

Now he seems to be on pace to return to the ice in September. His agent has reported that he is carrying out his regular offseason workouts and is continuing to build so that he is ready for training camp.

While things are looking up in Pittsburgh, it isn’t so great in Chicago. During recent offseason workouts it was discovered that Patrick Kane has fracture in his left wrist. He will undergo surgery tomorrow with the team anticipating a full recovery for him in 6-8 weeks.

Kane has said that his wrist had been bothering him recently, but that he thought it was getting better. However as he started lifting weights it made things worse. He was shocked to find out he will need surgery, but is happy that it is getting fixed now.

Kane is young and has been very durable so far in his career so theoretically this injury shouldn’t hold him back much. However, it is a wrist and for a skill player like him just getting the bone healed is only part of the equation. He will then need to rebuild the strength in the wrist and get his timing and agility back. If he takes the full eight weeks to heal that puts him getting out of the cast only about a week before their first preseason game. He would still have about two weeks to get ready for the regular season, but it would likely cause him to miss much of training camp so he will have to use those two weeks to get himself back together and get into game shape.

Don’t be surprised it Kane is a little slow out the gate this season. The team should just be happy that they discovered this now, not a week before the regular season starts. The Blackhawks and Penguins are both teams that expect to challenge for the cup this season. They will both need their stars if they are going to do so.