Penguins' Sidney Crosby unsure of return date from wrist surgery

Fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins were legitimately shocked to learn on Sept. 8 that superstar Sidney Crosby had undergone successful surgery on his left wrist and would be sidelined at least six weeks, meaning the captain would likely miss the start of the regular season. 

Crosby offered an update on his recovery while speaking during Thursday's NHL players media tour. 

"It's not something that's really a common procedure for hockey, so it's not like I know 10 or 15 guys who've had this done and I know what the time frame's going to be," Crosby explained, according to Nicholas J. Cotsonika of the NHL website. "I think it's somewhere around six weeks. It could be less. It could be a little more. It's one of those things that I don't really have a great gauge."

Cotsonika added that Crosby's timeline has the 34-year-old missing at least the campaign's first four games. 

Some understandably wondered why Crosby didn't have the operation sooner to correct something Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said earlier this month had been bothering him "for numerous years" and through the summer. 

"Surgery's always the last resort," Crosby said. "The last thing I wanted to do was to have to miss any time, but I think with the timeline, I don't think it's going to be anything that's too lengthy. If there's some missed games, they're early on." 

In lighter news, Crosby also admitted he's rooting for on-the-ice rival and Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin to become the NHL's all-time leading scorer before Ovechkin hangs his skates up for good.