Report: Sid's agent says surgery a backup plan if injections don't work
On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that captain Sidney Crosby would not be getting surgery.
"After seeking additional medical advice, doctors have decided not to perform surgery on Sidney Crosby's wrist," the team stated on Twitter. "Sid will continue treatments and be evaluated regularly while he prepares for training camp in September."
But according to a Wednesday report by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a future operation is not out of the question if injections don't do the job.
"If this treatment works, you avoid surgery and move on," Crosby's agent Pat Brisson told the Post-Gazette, adding that his client was injured in March. "If it doesn't, he will have to go that [surgical] route."
Crosby won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player after tallying 104 points during the regular season, but scored only one goal during the Stanley Cup playoffs. He had eight points in the postseason.
Last week, the Penguins released a statement that said Crosby was getting treatment and advice for his wrist and that surgery, while a possibility, had not been decided on as the best route to recovery.
The day prior, the Post-Gazette reported that a source close to Crosby said the 26-year-old center "did play with a terrible wrist" during the playoffs and was scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery.
The most recent report from the Post-Gazette sheds light onto how Crosby's process went.
"We explored another option that was a second opinion, [then] we explored a third one and were recommended to perhaps explore something else rather than having surgery right away," Brisson said.
"We scheduled an appointment with another physician and were told [Monday] that with this certain treatment, this may work."
The forward, who has played in the NHL for the Penguins since the 2005-06 season, will reportedly keep training while he receives the injections.
The team's new general manager Jim Rutherford doesn't seem overly concerned with Crosby's injury.
"I don't know how the process is going to play out, but I was aware of this from the first day I got here, " Rutherford told TSN 1050 on Wednesday. "And however the rehab goes here leading up to the middle of September, I expect him to be 100 percent coming into camp."
