PITTSBURGH — Penguins center Sidney Crosby returned to the ice Monday for the first time since missing 29 games with a concussion. But if you’re looking for the Pittsburgh captain’s return date, it’s still anyone’s guess.
“I have no clue,” Crosby said. “I’m not thinking too far ahead as far as a time frame. I just want to get better. This is part of the way to do that. I’m just kind of taking that step and seeing how it goes.”
Crosby, who last played Jan. 5 in an 8-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, practiced in full gear for about 15 minutes at the Consol Energy Center. It was a light workout.
Crosby’s return to the ice comes a week after a surprising radio report out of Toronto, in which host Bob McCown floated the idea that some family members were trying to persuade him to retire.
“This report is baseless,” said Pat Brisson, Crosby’s agent. “At no time has retirement ever been discussed.”
• Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger is scheduled to undergo surgery on his right hand Thursday and is expected to miss three to four weeks.
• NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the league will adopt a more rigorous protocol for examining players with possible concussions.
• Bob Hartley, who led the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup in 2001 during a four-year run in Denver, agreed to a two-year contract to coach the Zurich Lions.
• An autopsy performed on Rick Martin determined the former Buffalo Sabres star forward died of hypertensive heart disease.
New York State Police issued the findings of the autopsy performed a day after Martin was found unresponsive after the car he was driving left the road and struck a utility pole in suburban Buffalo.
Parents speak after Fennville loss
VICKSBURG, Mich. — Wes Leonard‘s parents sobbed as they broke their silence for the first time since their son died this month after making a game-winning shot for Fennville High School.
Gary and Jocelyn Leonard spoke after Schoolcraft beat Fenn- ville 86-62 in a Michigan Class C basketball regional playoff game.
The 16-year-old Leonard had cardiac arrest March 3 because of his enlarged heart. Every night since his death, members of the team have spent the night at the Leonards’ house.
“They don’t want us to be alone,” Jocelyn Leonard said. “Their families have loaned them to us. They sleep on the floor because I can’t let anyone in his room.”
The family plans to create a cause in Wes Leonard’s name to encourage others to avoid similar deaths by having screenings.
Footnotes.
Olympic champion Evan Lysacek won the 2010 Sullivan Award, becoming the fourth figure skater to be honored as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
• While an MRI exam showed Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay‘s left shoulder is healing, no timetable has been set for his return.
• John Baker was leading in what could turn out to be an Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race record- breaker as he turned his team toward Nome and familiar territory for the Alaskan musher.
The Associated Press
