The Crosby Hit

A year and 19 days ago to the date there was a hit that shook the world.  At the end of the 2nd period of the 2011 Winter Classic held in Pittsburgh between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, David Steckel and Sidney Crosby collided each other after a broken play in the Washington Capital's defensive zone.  As the play broke down the puck went out of the zone, David Steckel was heading up ice to join the rush.  As Steckel was heading up ice, Crosby turned right into Steckel's shoulder.  For all you Penguin fans, you need to realize this, it was an accidential collision.  Crosby skated into Steckel who has 7 inches more of height on Crosby as well as a 25 pound weight advantage.  After the hit Crosby was clearly shaken up but he came back and played the rest of the game.  He came back and played in the Penguins next game against the Tampa Bay Lightning where he was hit again by Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.  With the exeption of 8 games played in November/December 2011, Crosby has been out with a concussion ever since.  The reason Crosby has been out for so long wasn't because of the Steckel hit, it was because of the second hit he took to the head courtesy of Victor Hedman.  Crosby was concussed on the Steckel hit but because he wasn't diagnossed properly, the second hit he took from Hedman is what is keeping Crosby out.  If Crosby was diagnossed properly after the Winter Classic it would have probably been a mild concussion that he would have had to deal with, he would have been out a month to two months. But because he wasn't diagnossed and played with a concussion he has been out of the game for more than a year.  The media has to stop villifiying David Steckel, it was an accident.  And if you don't realize this you shouldn't be watching hockey, you shouldn't be watching a contact sport, rather a non contact sport such as Figure Skating or Syncronized Swimming.