The Kid is BACK!

Written by Ivy | 22 November 2011

After what seemed like a lifetime, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby returned to the ice on Monday.

In case you don't follow hockey, or at least don't follow Penguins hockey (shame on you by the way!), Sid was taken from the game last season after two consecutive hits to the head. The news was bad. Crosby was flying around the country from one brain expert to another. The good news was the Penguins franchise was looking out for this 24 year old. Let's face it, no matter how much of a sports fan you are, no one wants to see the life of someone so young be ruined for the game. The bad news was he just didn't seem to be getting any better.

This couldn't have been an easy decision for anyone. Crosby was on tap for not only his best season, but also a record-breaking season. For Pittsburgh fans, that last hit to the skull was more like the hit heard round the world. Our star was seeing stars... and just take a look at last year's stats and you'll see the whole team was knocked to the ground. They hung in there and had a decent season, but the Pens just weren't the same without their captain.

The season started out this year pretty much like last season ended. Pens fans longed to see their star back on the ice. We watched the headlines closely, our hearts sunk with each passing day. Even the employees at Consol Energy Center seemed to hang their heads lower when you would bring up Crosby.

"It just doesn't look good," one of them told me during a behind-the-scenes tour of arena.

When Crosby returned to the ice for practice, fans like me kept a cautious optimism that his return was near. When would he be ready?

On Sunday it was announced Sid would be back for Monday's game. Was he ready? Let's just let this video answer that question: