I didn’t plan on this. I just decided one day that I wanted to talk about Sidney Crosby and put him on my calendar and then that got delayed due to an important meeting I needed to attend. So the week after (this week), he and his team, the Pittsburgh Penguins were already Stanley Cup Champions, beating the Nashville Predators (and P.K. Subban) in 6 games.
Sidney Crosby is a Canadian, born in Nova Scotia, a Maritime Province. He didn’t burst onto the hockey scene, he ripped it apart, blurred it, because he was already a star when he was finally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005. He was 18 years old. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 years and he’s still in his twenties, though he will turn 30 years old this summer.
Legend says that as a young boy, his dad had him shoot into a clothes dryer. He did it over and over until he got his accuracy down pat. By the age of 14, he was called The Next One or Sid the Kid and you still hear that one today. He’s a quiet young man who keeps his cards close to his chest. He isn’t flamboyant. He doesn’t have an Instagram account. He doesn’t talk about his personal life or about girl friends (past or present.) He doesn’t talk politics. He’s pleasant and quiet. A very private person.
And millions of fans, including kids idolize him and want to be like him.
Sidney Crosby just recently won his 3rd Stanley cup with the only NHL team he’s ever played for. Pittsburgh won last year too and before that, in 2009. It was a VERY long time between the first and second. Now it seems that the odds makers are saying they can win again in 2018. Only time will tell of course!
Like others who succeed, Sidney Crosby has had his challenges. Most notably, he’s had at least four concussions between 2011 and 2017. he actually had two this past season. One occurred near the start of the season when it was announced that he somehow got one during one of his practices.
Then he got his last one while playing against his conference rivals, the Washington Capitals. He reportedly had a concussion during Game 3 in that playoff round. But he bounced back within days, missing just one game. Of course there were some in the press who wrung their hands and worried about that. The concussion-spotters are always on the alert. Another young man earlier in the season got pulled off the ice after it looked like he’d hit his chin hard on the ice. He was furious for being removed from the game. that was Connor McDavid.
If you know Crosby’s story about his concussions, then you know that it took nearly two years for him to come back from his first one. It was suffered against the Washington Capitals on January 1, 2011 in the outdoor Winter Classics Game. They said he had concussive symptoms. As it was it really his confused his doctors since after awhile they kept changing his diagnosis while not allowing him to return to play.
This fourth one was so different from all the others simply because he came back so quickly. He wasn’t going to let another head injury take him out of the game he loved. I saw the play when it happened. I was amazed that two of the highest scoring players in the league (Crosby and Ovechkin) could dish out and also take such rough play.
He missed just one game.
Then there were the usual complaints and finger wagging about the NHL concussion protocol being lax.
What if Sidney Crosby really felt fine?
It’s one thing if a player really does feel bad and shouldn’t be allowed to play. It’s quite another if he feels well enough to go and do his thing. Besides, as far as I can see, the concussion protocol in professional sports hasn’t progressed beyond removing a player from the ice or the field. There’s still no comprehensive treatment for concussion. And unlike me, they’re still not looking for the reasons why the brain becomes weak in some people in the first place.
So Crosby is back on top this year, having just won their third Stanley Cup. I didn’t plan on that! but I’m glad this young man is doing well. And I hope he remains well. He’ll get his rest and relaxation now. He deserves it. Surrounded by the people and things that he loves most.
My work is all about possibility and possibility thinking. It changes the brain. It heals the brain. Neuroplasticity works both ways. You’re either shrinking the brain which is therefore a sick brain or you’re growing it. As you expand your life by WHAT you are THINKING, you are encouraging the birth and growth of new healthy brain cells and creating new healthy neural networks.
Because you’ve chosen to think constructively and positively and then taken those thoughts and put them into action to produce the results you want!
So, what about you?
Are you pouring your heart and soul into something that has a lot of meaning for you?
Are you ready to make tough decisions and go after what you want?
Success is not easy, not matter how you cut it. But the results are mighty fine. Stop living small. Dream big. Do big. Take a leap of faith. And be your own person all the way!
Dr. Joanny Liu, TCMD, B.Civil Eng, International #1 Best Selling Author and founder of Extraordinary Sports Medicine, where we help athletes reverse injury, get back in the game they love and improve their quality of life.
P.S. Watch Nathan’s Successful Recovery from Post Concussion Syndrome:
If you or someone you care about has a concussion or post concussion syndrome then pick up Dr. Joanny’s best seller: Heal Your Concussion: How to Quickly and Effectively Get Back in the Game
