This weekend was a weekend of superstars. The All-Star Game and Super Skills competitions took place in Ottawa, Team Chara pulled out a third-period win on Team Alfredsson, and Sidney Crosby came back into the spotlight. But regardless of the All-Star festivities (and Chara’s new record for the hardest slapshot of all time), Crosby’s news was the most shocking.

Yesterday it was reported that a spine-specialist from California diagnosed Crosby with a previously hidden neck injury (fractured C1 and C2). Even though it is said to be healed, this was the first time Crosby and worried Pittsburgh fans heard anything about vertebrate injuries in addition to Crosby’s 11-month+ concussion symptoms. This is shocking for a couple of reasons.

Crosby is being seen by the best doctors in the world. He has seen numerous specialists from all over the US and it took 11 months for doctors to see a neck injury? The NHL is saying how they are really assessing players for their concussions, but apparently they are not having doctors do MRIs and CAT scans on players heads and necks?

Pittsburgh fans have been very persistent in pushing for information on their captain’s health condition for the last year. A #Crosbywatch started on twitter a while ago, and numerous statements have been released by doctors, coaches, and Sid himself. One of the memorable early conversations about Sid’s concussion was when Doctor Michael Collins referred to Crosby as a Ferrari (You don’t want your ferrari with the best features running like a cheap old car) and said the concussion wasn’t the Boogeyman. But, if the concussion isn’t the boogeyman, maybe his neck injury is. It hid and terrorized Crosby and the city of Pittsburgh for 11 months- and now it is mysterious and no one knows what it means for the future. Is a neck-injury prone to re-injury like a concussion? Even though it is supposedly healed, are there ramifications for Crosby not properly treating it for the last 11 months?

The only thing to do is keep an eye on #Crosbywatch and see what doctors say for the future. Just make sure to take everything they say with a grain of salt!