Get well, Sid!

Hope he gets better, not just so he can play hockey again but so that the guy can live a normal life. Man, these concussions are scary. A guy forgets everything that the brain is responsible for, not something you want injured.

man Sid just has crap for luck.

What's it going to take for the NHL to outright ban all hits to the head?

Just among the teams I follow the closest - the Penguins, Sabres and Flyers (my favorite team, my nostalgic team of choice and the team I love to hate, respectively) - over the course of the past two years there have been what feels like a huge number of players lost to concussions and similar closed head injuries. And that's just eyeballing among three teams. And many of those were on hits that went not only unpunished by the league, but not even called as penalties on the ice.

Unlike torn knee ligaments or broken hands/feet, these injuries have the potential to derail a player's career in one bad moment. Yes they're atheletes and yes that should come with some expectation of injury in a game that can be quite violent. But to expect that level of injury? Should they have to look out for guys that go head hunting on every team, every night, because frankly, in doing so, they help earn their NHL paycheck through "tough play?"

If there's no incentive to not be out there knocking heads, there are going to be players out there targetting heads. Whether Shanahan and the rest of the league administrators (and the NHLPA! They are not guiltless in this) want to admit it or not, they truly are supporting the gutless, dirty players out there. There slewfooting, the elbows to the head, the knee-on-knee hits.

It's got to go. Virtually every other hockey league in the world has taken this step, but the NHL is apparently taking a page from the NFL and putting their short-term bottom line before player safety. And in the end, over the long haul, both their product and bottom line will suffer.

If you think it's tough on us fans, consider what it must be like for Sid. Hockey is his life,his job and his hobby all rolled into one. The Pittsburgh hockey fan base takes for granted the talent on the ice - let's show him our total support and appreciation. He needs to take all the time he needs to totally heal so we have him for years to come. His experience will contribute greatly toward concussion treatment and cleaning up the games of hockey and football.

Wish the NHL would establish an exclusive endorsement deal with the Messier helmet (M11) and make everybody wear it with a visor. No grandfather clauses, if you want to participate in a National Hockey League game you wear it.

There are too many players getting knocked out by concussions. You could label it an epidemic at this point. And how many players attempt to play through a concussion without either being aware they have one or are simply not telling anyone they are experiencing symptoms. We've all played organized team sports enough to know that there are plenty of guys willing to keep a tight hamstring or a stiff shoulder to themselves so that they can continue to play. You have to assume that the same happens with concussions.

No matter what team you cheer for, not having guys like Crosby, Giroux, Savard, and Lindros on the ice lowers the quality of the overall product. A win against the Flyers was always more satisfying when #88 was in the lineup.

I think that "no time table for his return" has replaced "Flyers win" as my least favorite phrase in the English language.

If it weren't for bad luck they'd have no luck at all.

*t might be time to seriously consider retirement. To go almost a full year and then get re-injured so quickly....devastating. What a shame.

Not time to discuss retirement yet. But honestly, it might be a good idea to take the rest of the season off.

I am sad and I hope Sid gets better. I love that dude and I wish all the best for.

This is when I regret being an emotional female. I can't even think about this logically at the moment. All I seem to able to do is think about Savard and Lindros and cry.

While I do agree with the Messier helmet idea, the problem is his current problems couldn't have been prevented by ANY helmet (except a goalie mask or football helmet).

Unless you want everyone running around with full face cages a la NCAA, there's not much you can do about the most recent injury Crosby sustained.