"The national hockey media began infiltrating Pittsburgh on Wednesday, but its center of attention hardly rolled out the welcome mat.

Center Sidney Crosby declined to speak after the Penguins practiced at Consol Energy Center. His reasoning, relayed through a senior member of general manager Ray Shero's hockey operations staff: Nothing has changed since Monday.

It was then that Crosby did not dismiss the possibility of Friday marking his return to NHL games — though, as Penguins coach Dan Bylsma reiterated yesterday, there remains "no timetable for (Crosby's) return."

The Penguins host the Dallas Stars on Friday."