Sidney Crosby Suffering from an Undetected Fractured Vertebrae for a Year?

A disturbing complication has come to the Sidney Crosby concussion story, as reported by Bruce Arthur in the National Post early this morning.

Apparently, doctors in Utah and California that Crosby was consulting this All-Star week found abnormalities in his C1 and C2 vertebrae.

The speculation is that this newly-diagnosed and apparently healed injury could have been bothering the Penguin star for a year. He may have picked up the neck fracture at the same time he was concussed back in January of 2010.

Doctors aren't infallible but the fear has to be that by missing the neck fracture they have exacerbated and extended Crosby's recovery time. Treatment that might have sped up the time it took him to come back never took place.

It looks like there is a more complete understanding of Sidney Crosby's current medical condition. Hopefully this will help expedite a complete recovery from the symptoms he's been suffering.

At the very least it should help sort out what problems are the result of a concussion and what problems are related to walking around with a fractured neck.

It remains to be seen how this possible missed injury will affect Crosby's relationship with the Penguins organization in general and with their medical staff specifically.