Beginning of the concussion saga | 10 years ago, Crosby suffered the worst concussion of his career

It’s been a decade, but every fan of the National Hockey League still remembers the day. 

On January 1st, 2011, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby sustained the worst concussion of his career yet (and we hope that’s it quite honestly) as he was hit by Washington Capitals’ David Steckel, shoulder to the head, and fell to the ice in one scary scene on ice. 

And it got worse from there. After that Winter Classic at Heinz Field, Crosby played a game he shouldn’t have even dressed for and was tapped by Victor Hedman, bumping Crosby’s head into the glass.

“It was a far more innocent-looking play than the Steckel hit, but it triggered a 15-month saga that saw Crosby play in only eight games. Along the way, he missed 101 games and his life was forever changed,” reads the article on this concussion saga in The Athletic. 

Crosby was having quite the season, 32 goals and 66 points in the season’s first 41 games, putting him on a pace for 64 goals and 132 points. But at that point, his NHL career was in jeopardy and the incident has changed a lot of things in the game. 

We don’t see head coaches and teams labelling concussions as “mild concussion” : back then, former Pens head coach Dan Bylsma had use those words and said that Sid was expected to miss around one week. 

“At the time, this comment was met with a shrug of shoulders. A decade later, the phrase “mild concussion” no longer exists, as it’s widely recognized that concussions are unpredictable. It was only 10 years ago but, in this context, it might as well have been a century ago. We’ve come a long way in how seriously we take brain injuries.”

Good thing the vocabulary has changed because this “mild concussion” almost put an end to a legendary player’s career.

His comeback story is almost what makes Crosby a great player. He endured a lot of sleepless nights and barely played hockey for 15 months. But he returned and is not more concerned with head trauma and injuries. Some say he has become the concussion godfather in the Penguins’ dressing room. 

Crosby has helped a lot of players around the league and we are sure in the end, there is some good in this scary incident that took place 10 years ago.