Penguins star Crosby talks about his experience with mumps
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby saw the picture.
He couldn't believe the size or shape of his face.
“That's not what I looked like before I went on the ice,” Crosby said of a screen shot that made it around Twitter last Friday.
The swelling that was visible on the right side of Crosby's face after a morning skate not only made him an Internet sensation, but it also turned out to be a symptom of mumps, which the Penguins announced Crosby had two days later.
After three missed games, two wins and plenty of fuss over the NHL's best player getting mumps, Crosby returned to play against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday and skated on a line with Nick Spaling and Patric Hornqvist.
“It's been a (long) week,” Crosby said. “It's nice to be back with the team and feeling better.”
As expected, Crosby didn't criticize the Penguins medical staff's handling of the situation. He calmly conveyed what led to him sitting at his locker stall with a cockeyed smile six days ago.
First, he was grabbed by the throat during a game Nov. 28 against Carolina and had been experiencing salivary gland soreness but nothing else associated with mumps.
With little or no prepractice swelling, Crosby skated. Things quickly took a turn for the worse.
“We've had all our blood tests run before that,” Crosby said. “All my tests were negative. The fact that I had that incident before that kind of threw everyone off.”
Crosby said he slept a lot and watched movies while in isolation from Friday afternoon through Tuesday. Ever superstitious, Crosby didn't overlook the fact he was the 13th NHL player this season to contract mumps.
“There are 12 other guys who had it before me. Guess it took the 13th one to notice it,” Crosby said, presumably poking fun at the national story caused by Canada's hockey hero getting mumps.
Teammate Beau Bennett and Rangers forward Derick Brassard were confirmed to have mumps after Crosby, bringing the number to 15 on five teams.
Crosby participated in the morning skate and spoke to the media afterward.
It turned out to be one of his more entertaining media scrums.
“Everybody has dealt with me differently,” Crosby said when asked about how his teammates have handled his return. “I'm surprised you guys are this close, to be honest with you.”
While Crosby is not 100 percent, the Penguins, still plenty affected by injuries, were happy to welcome their captain and his 35 points — tied for fourth most in the league entering Thursday's games — back to the lineup.
“He's not going to feel great in his first skate conditioning-wise and sharpness,” coach Mike Johnston said. “I find guys (who have been) off the ice two days in a row, it really has a big impact, let alone four or five days in a row. For him, I think it's a little bit of that.”
Jason Mackey is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jmackey@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mackey_Trib.
