Crosby “feeling better” but is still having headaches as return is unclear

The Pittsburgh Penguins just wrapped up their morning skate about 20 minutes ago as the team prepares for a depleted Detrot Red Wings team that is 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and have boasted the second best record in the Western Conference at 28-11-6, 62pts, despite missing several core players.

Among the players who won’t play tonight is Pavel Datsyuk, Dan Cleary, Tomas Holmstrom, Brad Stuart and goaltender Jimmy Howard, just to name a few.

For the Penguins no changes on their top-4 lines. Malkin is centering Kunitz and Dupuis, while Staal remains in between Cooke and Kennedy on the second line.

Max Talbot is centering the third line with Mike Rupp and Chris Conner on his wings. Mark Letestu is still stuck on the 4th line with Arron Asham and Craig Adams.

Pens center Sidney Crosby will miss his 6th straight game and will not be cleared to play this week.

Crosby was around the facility today following the Penguins morning skate and met with the media just a while ago.

The Latest on Crosby From his Media Session

Crosby looks much better than he did just days after the concussion and he said this morning that he is feeling better. However, the concussion symptoms are still there for the NHL’s leading scorer and Crosby said it’s tough to pinpoint a timetable for a return.

As of this weekend, he was reportedly still feeling groggy and Crosby said today he is still having headaches. Crosby is a major longshot to play in the Penguins remaining four games before the All-Star break.

The expectation is that he will be held out until after the All-Star break. It’s hard to see any scenario that Crosby is cleared to play by Next Tuesday.

“I’ve definitely gotten better. It’s kind of hard to judge because it’s not something I’ve gone through, but I’m progressing, ” Crosby said.

“It’s on and off… As far as the symptoms, it’s mostly headaches, ” Crosby said. “Once you get better, you realize how far you’ve come. Some days you feel good and you feel like you’ve made progress. Some days are a little bit tougher. That’s all tied into this type of injury.

What’s been very noticable over the past couple weeks is that this injury has been scary for Crosby.

It is, it’s different, Crosby said on the injury being scary. “It’s not like a bruise or playing through something…. It’s a lot more serious than that. It’s a little different.

Crosby said going through his first concussion hasn’t been fun.

“There are different times where you’ve been hit hard and thought that you might have been close to a concussion, or have a slight one. After going through this I can say that I haven’t and this is the first one. It’s not fun….

“You kind of gain a perspective on things and realize how serious and tough it is. It’s something that you have a greater opinion on, having gone through it.”

A few other tidbits from Crosby’s media session is that he indicated he hasn’t done much activity off the ice and is not exerting himself by any means to try to get back quickly.