Crosby likely to address date of return to league action
Crosby likely to address date of return to league action Reuters

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is expected to discuss the likely timing of his return from concussion at a news conference in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old Canadian will be available to the media from 12:30 p.m. EDT at the team's home venue, CONSOL Energy Center, the Penguins said in a statement Tuesday.

No details were given by the National Hockey League (NHL) team about the main reason for the news conference but Crosby is sure to face questions about his plans.

Crosby, one of the NHL's biggest drawing cards, has not played in the league since early January after absorbing two hits to the head in successive games within a week.

The NHL's leading scorer at the time, he was bothered by headaches after those incidents and was shut down for the season and playoffs.

After some setbacks, the team said Crosby made significant progress later in the offseason but started having headaches again when he got to 90 percent exertion in his workouts.

Pittsburgh will visit the Vancouver Canucks on October 6 for their first regular season game but Crosby's agent said last week that no return date had been set for the team captain.

We always knew this was going to be a progressive recovery -- based on how he felt, Crosby's agent Pat Brisson said.

With a concussion, there is not a finite recovery period ... That's why we've never even set a specific goal for a return date like the start of training camp or October 1 or anything else. He will play when he is symptom free.

Since joining the Penguins for the 2005-06 season Crosby has been a points-producing machine, recording 572 points in 412 regular season games and he has won a Stanley Cup and been named the league's most valuable player.