Question: Sidney Crosby hurt his wrist in a meaningless regular season game, yet he finished that game and every game down the stretch. Do you blame Sid, the trainers or Dan Bylsma for playing through pain that certainly, in hindsight, needed more attention/rest?
DK: Something like that’s always on the athlete. And by that, I mean an injury that’s not severe enough to require surgery — and remember, it never was — but that the athlete is adamant he can play through.
I remember at the game up in Winnipeg late in the regular season, Crosby was telling the group of us how important it was for him to get to 82 games, even joking that if you counted Sochi, he’d exceeded that. That was supported by info I’d heard behind the scenes that both Crosby and others in his camp were pushing Bylsma hard to have him play all 82. Now, Bylsma did sit Crosby the one game very late, but know that this was not easily achieved.
Sid wanted to play. Sid played. Sid played below par. End controversy.