Crosby expected to return during postseason

It's a mild concussion. He will be back in March. We do not expect a return during the regular season.

What will it be next? Sidney Crosby will travel with the team and has been cleared to practice but he won't practice with the team all the time, said General Manager Ray Shero.

It looked like the Penguins were ready to go into the playoffs. Five consecutive wins, five losses, as of Wednesday, for the month of March. And two of those losses were overtime. A pretty record, I would say, for a team missing key players.

Four more games remain. And as the next 240 or more minutes of hockey are played in the Penguins' regular season, all against teams ranked lowest in the Eastern Conference, fans should have a good indication of the way the playoffs will go.

I am not saying that the Penguins cannot win without Crosby — clearly they can — but play steps up in the playoffs. Is the team ready to take it up a notch without their leader on the ice? Obviously, the players have been doing a pretty good job. Dan Bylsma is being talked about for the Jack Adams Award.

Clearly, his coaching has enabled the Penguins to remain in an excellent playoff position. The team lost Malkin, not once, but twice, ending his season. Losing Crosby at the start of 2011 left Bylsma's team depleted with scoring. Then the loss of Mark Letestu, Brooks Orpik and now Dustin Jeffrey has gone down with a knee injury.

The only two players who have been healthy and dressed all 76 games are Kris Letang and Maxime Talbot.

It comes as no shock that the Pens' coach received a three-year contract extension earlier in March. The memorable Stanley Cup in 2009, I believe, is only the tip of the iceberg for this young coach.

If the Penguins can make a good run in the last games of the season and get through the first round of the playoffs, Bylsma's name will be mentioned even more for coach of  the year.