Sidney Crosby has played 20 games in the 2012 calendar year, due mostly to concussion and neck problems, but he's been feeling good after recent informal on- and off-ice workouts with his Pittsburgh Penguins teammates.
Crosby told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday that he started on the ice earlier than normal this summer to make up for all the time he's missed the past two seasons.
Crosby sat out the second half of the 2010-11 season and most of last season with symptoms stemming from hard hits he took in consecutive games Jan. 1 and Jan. 5, 2011. He sat out the remainder of the 2010-11 season and Stanley Cup Playoffs and didn't make his debut last season until Nov. 21. He played eight games before again leaving the lineup.
He returned March 15 and had 25 points in the final 14 regular-season games, and added eight points in six playoff games.
Crosby said he spent much of the summer working out in Los Angeles but things went well there and he's continued on a positive path since returning to Pittsburgh. He said he's feeling no lingering health issues at all.
"It's been really good," Crosby told the newspaper. "Nothing. I've been feeling 100 percent. It feels good to not have to think about that, and to work as hard as you want. It's been really good."