Sidney Crosby returned to Penguins practice Wednesday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, but cautioned afterward that one day of progress is only a small step toward returning to the ice.
He will not play in Thursday's season opener against Washington, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan confirmed. Crosby was diagnosed with a concussion Monday and skated on his own Tuesday.
"I'm always happy when I'm on the ice," Crosby said. "I've been through this before. I don't get too caught up in every little step. You guys like to hear every little bit of progress, but it can go a lot of different ways."
Crosby skated by himself for approximately 30 minutes before the Penguins began practice this morning, and then joined the team for a majority of the session wearing a yellow no-contact jersey.
Sullivan described Crosby's participation as "limited." He went through a few line rushes and special teams drills but also spent a large portion of practice on the bench. Sullivan said Crosby will have to go through a full practice, with contact, before returning to the lineup.
Despite ruling him out for Thursday's game, Sullivan wasn't ready to concede that Crosby's injury would definitely be "a long-term thing."
"Part of (the process) is you heighten their heart rates to a certain level, and as they make progress, you add to the intensity of their workouts and you see how they respond," Sullivan said. "As players respond the right way, you can take it to the next level. That's the process that we've gone through here with Sid to this point and we'll continue to do that."
Crosby confirmed that he did not have any symptoms after skating on his own Tuesday but added "it could happen today."
Given his history of dealing with concussions and head-related injuries, Crosby wasn't willing to mark one step in the right direction as an overwhelming victory.
"I've just been through it enough to know you don't get too high with a little bit of progress," he said. "It's nice, it's great to be on the ice, that's the best part. As long as I'm on the ice and things are going well, I'm happy. Maybe it takes longer, maybe it doesn't, but you're just looking for progress, that's the main thing."
After ramping up the intensity in the morning's session, Crosby said there isn't necessarily a timeline for the rest of the day to determine whether it was another day of progress.
"You just kind of listen to your body, see how things go," he said. "I think trainers will kind of touch base and make sure everything's good. I think it's just kind of a constant thing.
"You just kind of go from there, see how you are the following day."
Crosby admitted as much as he would like to be a part of Thursday's season opener _ including the Penguins raising their Stanley Cup banner _ he was obviously more concerned with his long-term health.
"It's a game you want to be a part of, but at the same time, I think I've spent more than enough time being in this situation," he said. "I think you understand that you have to be patient, you have to listen to your body. If you're ready, you're ready. If not, then you don't take any chances and give yourself a lot better chance of not having it happen again if you treat it the right way. It's just something you have to be smart with."
