The summer months are always tough for hockey fans. But don’t worry, there’s plenty going on over the next few months to keep everyone’s appetite for hockey satiated until the 2012-13 season begins. Here’s a breakdown of what Penguins fans can look forward to during the offseason – click on a specific link for a detailed explanation.

IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: MAY 4-20
NHL COMBINE: MAY 28 – JUNE 2 
NHL AWARDS: JUNE 20 
NHL DRAFT: JUNE 22 – 23  
FREE AGENCY PERIOD BEGINS: JULY 1  
PENGUINS DEVELOPMENT CAMP: JULY; TBA  
ROOKIE CAMP AND TOURNAMENT: SEPTEMBER; TBA  
TRAINING CAMP: SEPTEMBER; TBA

Posing awkwardly, as usual.

Olympic gold medal hero Sidney Crosby has begged off playing forTeam Canada at the upcoming World Championships saying he doesn’t want to risk another head injury.

“Typically, I’d be there in a second, but this isn’t a normal situation and this isn’t me trying to hide away from the world championships,” said Crosby. “I love playing for Team Canada.”

Crosby scored the winning goal in overtime against the Americans, giving Canada the gold medal in the ice hockey tournament at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

The Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Crosby, who has been plagued by concussion problems the past two NHL seasons, said he needs more time to recuperate and get healthy. He has not played a full season since 2009-10.

He took a couple of hits to the head in the playoffs but hardly missed a shift in the opening round series against bitter rival Philadelphia.

“I feel pretty good. But the last year and a half has been tough,” Crosby said. “It’s been tough to stay healthy. I think the best thing to do is to give myself a full summer to get ready for next year and have a full season.”

The world championships are being co-hosted by Finland and Sweden and run from May 4 to May 20.

Via Sports Radio Interviews:

On Sidney Crosby’s behavior:

“No, you know what? Sidney wants to win. He’s the face of the game for a reason — he’s the best player in the game today. I just think it’s more a question of the fact that the Flyers are doing everything they can to throw him off his game. Whether it was Wayne Gretzky going into Philadelphia or Mario Lemieux or Sidney Crosby, you’re going to be public enemy number one and the players are going to do whatever they can to throw you off your game. So he’s just an emotional young man that wants to win. He’s a tough kid that plays the game hard and emotions run high. And I’m not surprised — he just wants to be a winner and he wants to put his name back on the Stanley Cup, so emotions do run high.”

On if he received a similar reception to the one Crosby has in Philadelphia:

“The Flyer fans are great fans, as are Pittsburgh fans. They’re wonderful hockey fans and sports fans. For me it was probably a little bit different. I was probably more on the basis of not being loved and liked in the city of Calgary, because that was Edmonton’s big rivalry. And so when you have a rivalry, it’s not just the individual player but it’s the teams themselves and obviously the Flyer fans don’t like the Penguin players and obviously the Penguins fans don’t like the Flyer players. But that’s pro sports. I was watching a baseball game the other night and Reggie Jackson said it best: ‘They don’t boo you if you’re a nobody. They boo you if you’re a somebody.’ And obviously Sidney’s a great player.”

Good friends Max Talbot and Sidney Crosby have stopped exchanging pleasantries during a first-round Stanley Cup playoff series between the Philadelphia Flyers and Penguins, but Talbot defended his former teammate’s honor today.

Addressing the Tuesday cover of the Philadelphia Daily News, which depicted Crosby’s as the cowardly lion from the “Wizard of Oz,” Talbot expressed dismay.

“I think it’s a stupid cover,” he said after the Flyers’ morning practice. “That doesn’t reflect what Sidney Crosby is.”
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