Penguins' Sidney Crosby: Close to practicing again

General manager Jim Rutherford said Monday that Crosby (sports hernia) should be ready to resume practicing with the Penguins soon after the team's Christmas break, Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. "Everybody recognizes, to say the obvious, what he does for our team on and off the ice," Rutherford said. "We're really looking forward to getting him back."

After undergoing surgery Nov. 14 to address a sports hernia, Crosby was cleared to resume skating in an individual setting two weeks ago, and he now appears poised to take the next step forward in his recovery process. Even if Crosby practices Thursday, it's unlikely the Penguins would clear him to play either end of their Friday/Saturday home-and-away set with the Predators, so next week probably represents the most realistic target date for the star center's return to game action. The Penguins have thus far survived without their captain, going 11-5-3 in his absence.