Sid's comeback was great and all, but...

Tom Thompson of The Hockey News wrote a column about Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux returning to hockey and it's a story you should check out. The link is available above. (Just click on the title of this blog post.)

It was over a week ago that Sidney Crosby returned to the lineup and most eyes were on that return. The media coverage was closer to the coverage deep in the NHL playoffs and the speculation before and after the game could only be reserved for Sidney Crosby. I don't believe that any other player would garner that much attention. Though, it wasn't the biggest return we have seen. Not just as NHL fans, but Pens fans have had a memorable return in the past. Mario Lemieux's return to the game coming out of retirement was the biggest return Pens fans have witnessed.

Not only did it bring a bigger rating on tv locally than Crosby's recent return, Lemieux's return to the game of hockey was more of a surprise than Crosby's eventual return. Sidney had press conferences, updates, clearing for contact, practices and the questioning was relentless leading up to the announcement that Crosby would play last Monday night.
On the other hand, Lemieux had retired and therefore did not have daily access to the media and the constant questioning. Lemieux had kept his return quiet and when he was seen skating with Jay Caufield, there was some questioning but no one knew for sure and who would guess that after so much in his career and surgeries and pain that Lemieux would be returning. Therefore, Lemieux's return was a surprise. It was one of the greatest players in NHL history, in my opinion the best player, returning to the game of hockey. Gone for a few years and returning to marvel us all again was truly one of the best things to happen to the game of hockey and I don't know that anything could reach Lemieux's return to hockey again.