Crosby Out With the Mumps

The mystery illness that has sidelined Sidney Crosby, has in fact, been diagnosed as the mumps and it will now keep the face of the franchise/league out of action for a week or two.

Before the weekend's action, the team had announced that Crosby would miss the Friday & Saturday games with an illness, but they would not confirm that the 27-year old superstar was another victim of the league epidemic.  On Sunday, the fears were indeed confirmed with a press release and now Crosby will be missing some extra time, due to the illness.

Crosby has already been ruled out of Monday's game against the Lightning, but he hasn't been placed on the Injured Reserve, which would keep him out for the better part of Week Eleven, due to the ineligibility for a week rule.

After Saturday's action, Crosby had dropped down to 11th overall in pool scoring, having 9 goals and 26 assists in 27 games for the Penguins and losing out on some time on the ice will likely hurt his position going forward in a very frantic scoring race.

Stuart went with Crosby with the 1st overall pick in the draft this year and isn't exactly getting the best out of Crosby, especially with the illness that has befallen him.  Of course, the pool is not exactly about your opening round pick in the draft, but you're definitely picking who you think is the best player available at the time of your selection.  Stuart's 10th place team in the standings could use a bit more from Crosby, but they could also use a bit more scoring all around.

Crosby has also been on the Injury Prone List for a couple of seasons now and as much as an illness isn't exactly an injury, it does justify the implied risk when you take Crosby in the pool, whether it is 1st overall or later.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.