Mike Johnston Says Swollen-Faced Sidney Crosby Does Not Have Mumps

Something is wrong with Sidney Crosby's face.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain missed practice Thursday due to illness, and reporters covering Friday's workouts noticed a slight change in his appearance when he removed his gear to speak to the media.

Perhaps you'll spot it.

The right side of Crosby’s face is very swollen, for reasons that haven't been made public. We do know a rash of mumps—a contagious disease causing swelling of the salivary glands—has been rippling through the NHL this season.

Crosby joked about his appearance to the media at Friday's practice. One reporter said he looked "good." Crosby laughed.

"I was gonna say, are we doing radio today?" Crosby asked.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Seth Rorabaugh tweeted that CBS Pittsburgh's Jeff Hathhorn asked Penguins head coach Mike Johnston if Crosby had mumps. Johnston said the team doctors had recently conducted blood tests on the players and never mentioned finding anything.

In other words, it could be mumps, but Johnston wouldn't know anything about that. Plausible deniability, baby.

UPDATE: Friday at 3:10 p.m.

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Friday afternoon that the team will sit Sidney Crosby for the next two games as a precautionary measure.

Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said in a statement, "There is no indication at this time that this is the mumps, but we are going to hold him out as a precaution. We'll have additional test results in a few days."

So Crosby might have the mumps. Good precautionary call, Pittsburgh. Better late than never.

---End of Update---

Of course, there are a number of other things that could cause the kind of swelling seen on Crosby's face. A root canal, removal of a wisdom tooth (just the one) or an overly ambitious helping of Big League Chew could technically be culprits.

In any case, Crosby will play in Friday's game against the Calgary Flames. He said he felt "good" and would be ready to go.

Enjoy checking Crosby, Calgary. There’s definitely nothing virulent waiting to leap from him to you.

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