"Overshadowed by the ovations and relief when Sidney Crosby returned to the Penguins lineup Nov. 21 was a touch of the cringe factor.

There was a thought that the center, team captain and face of the National Hockey League was taking a risk by playing, even though it had been nearly 11 months since he was diagnosed with a concussion and he had gone through several painstaking steps to be cleared medically.

Posts on social media urged the Penguins to shut down Mr. Crosby for the full season. Talk show callers wondered if a leveling hit might end his career.

Not Mr. Crosby.

Even Monday, as he sat at his locker stall at Consol Energy Center explaining that concussion-like symptoms have resurfaced and forced him back out of the lineup indefinitely, Mr. Crosby was resolute that he had returned with no trepidation.

"No," he said. "I wasn't thinking about it. That's the honest truth."