So much occurred during the past eight years of Sidney Crosby‘s career and the first half-decade of it, that it’s easy to forget for a moment what took place in between those historic segments.
Back-to-back Cups and seven individual trophies mark the first of those, while one more Cup and another five trophies came during those early years. But for two years in between, No. 87 was mostly relegated to the sidelines as a result of the concussion he suffered in early January 2011, while prognosticators wondered often whether he’d be forced to leave the game altogether.
Crosby reflected on those difficult years in a video message Wednesday after receiving the American Brain Foundation’s Commitment to Cures Award “for advocacy for concussion awareness.”
“My friends and family were a huge support over the course of my injury. It wasn’t always easy to relate, not always easy to explain a good day from a bad one,” Crosby said during the virtual awards event, which was forced online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “But they were always there to help and listen and support any way that they could. My team, the National Hockey League, the National Hockey League Players’ Association and, as well, all the amazing doctors I was fortunate enough to work with, were also very instrumental to me getting better.
“One in particular, Dr. (Ted) Carrick and his team — you guys were so encouraging, so optimistic from Day 1, and instilled in me it wasn’t a matter of ‘if,’ only a matter of ‘when’ I was going to get back on the ice. So thank you for that.”
Those years — along with myriad other injuries and a lockout that sapped half of his first season back from those concussion woes — have left the Pittsburgh Penguins captain well-versed in missing time, and granted him a keen appreciation for the chance to play the game. It’s something NHLers throughout the league may well be feeling now too, with the 2019-20 campaign paused and at risk of being cancelled altogether due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Missing a year of hockey taught me a lot,” Crosby said of his own time away from the sport, “in particular, to not take anything for granted. I thought I loved the game before I got hurt — and trust me, I loved the game. But I love it even more [now], being able to come back and play the game that I love every day.”
While he grew from his prolonged absence, so too did the league as a whole, as the concussions suffered by the most prominent talent in the sport cast an undeniable spotlight upon the issue, and shifted the conversation around how brain injuries are dealt with in hockey.
“I think there was important dialogue for an education that happened because of this injury. I think that moving forward, we’ve gotten much better at educating ourselves and understanding what it is, as far as necessary steps, with concussions,” Crosby said.
“Those are all such positive things, so as much as I don’t like to reflect and look back on it, I know that there was a lot of good that came from it too. So that I’m certainly proud of.”
Crosby also offered condolences to the family of the Edmonton Oilers’ Colby Cave — who passed away at age 25 due to complications from a brain bleed — directing viewers to the Colby Cave Memorial Fund. It’s the second time in less than a week Crosby has offered condolences to a community close to him — this one to the hockey world, the other to his home province of Nova Scotia after the tragedy endured there.
The Cole Harbour, N.S., native remains in Pittsburgh on lockdown along with the rest of his fellow athletes, and the rest of society at large, with life upended due to the unprecedented impact of COVID-19. All that in mind, Crosby offered a simple message during his address at the ABF’s event:
“I know a lot has changed over the last four or five weeks and I’m sure with that, our perspectives have too,” No. 87 said. “I hope, for everyone, good health — I hope that we continue to help one another.”