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Saturday is a great day for a lot of people especially fans of the National Hockey League as the 2013 season finally starts. That also means fans will get to see Sidney Crosby for a full season again hopefully after fully recovering from the concussion symptoms he has been dealing with the past two years. I think it is very important that Crosby gets through this season without any more issues.
Concussions have become a much-talked about part of sports in recent years and with what Crosby went through, it moves even farther into the limelight. Crosby is obviously the face of the NHL and not having him on the ice damages the game in more ways than one. The NHL has a lot of public relations to do after the long lockout and teams have tried to come up with ways to give back to the fans but the biggest gift right now for fans is a healthy Crosby.
Will the shortened season help or hurt Crosby in this quest? I think playing only 48 games this season will help Crosby out to avoid as many blows as possible. The league has cracked down on blows to the head with high-profile players like Crosby and Marian Hossa getting hurt in recent years. This is a very important season for Crosby as he tries to get his Pittsburgh Penguins back to the Stanley Cup Finals and hopefully can raise the cup again. It will be just wonderful to see Crosby back on the ice and not suffering anymore from the concussion.
Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports or like his Facebook page.
