Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan announced Tuesday afternoon that captain Sidney Crosby will miss Game 4 against the Washington Capitals after being diagnosed with a concussion that was the result of a cross check from the Capitals’ Matt Niskanen.

Niskanen served a five-minute major and game misconduct penalty on the play, but will face no further discipline from the league. According to Sullivan, Crosby is considered day-to-day and his condition will be monitored.

This is terrible, terrible news for Crosby and something no hockey fan wants to see happen.

Forget for a minute that the Penguins are without their star player, who has four goals and 11 points this postseason, and consider that this is Crosby’s fourth reported concussion in about 6 years.

In 2011, Crosby suffered a head injury during the Winter Classic against the Capitals on a hit by David Steckel.  For some reason, Crosby played in the next game against the Lightning, which only made matters worse. That concussion kept him away from the game for close to a year.

In Dec. 2011, Crosby took an elbow to the head from David Krejci during a game against the Boston Bruins, which kept him out of the game for about two months.

Fast forward to earlier this season. In October of 2016, Crosby suffered a concussion after a hit sustained during a preseason practice but was able to get back on the ice several weeks later.

On Monday night, Crosby collided with Niskanen and got cross checked across the back of the head, resulting in his fourth career concussion.

AP Photo

Crosby collapsed on the ice after the hit, holding his head in apparent agony. He looked dazed when he was finally helped up by teammates and taken to the locker room.

Beyond the troubling implications for Crosby’s health, are the questions each team faces.

If the Capitals even up the series against Pittsburgh, they’ll never escape the accusation that it was because the Penguins best player wasn’t in the line up.

For their part, the Penguins are without their Hart Trophy finalist, which is a huge blow to their offensive production and could be a fatal blow to their chances of repeating as Cup champions.

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

These are the immediate and practical concerns of teams battling it out for postseason glory, but there’s also the more troubling, long term effects of suffering so many head injuries for a player who is three months shy of his 30th birthday.

Crosby’s repeated blows to the head have him at serious risk for CTE, the degenerative brain disease marked by depression and memory loss. That should give anyone pause.

Regardless of where you have a rooting interest, we’ve all seen the long-term damage concussions can do and it’s hard not to feel extended empathy for a player who will be dealing with the effects long after this particular playoff run is over.

For his part, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan remains optimistic that Crosby will be back on the ice soon.

“He’s very upbeat and positive. We’re very optimistic and hopeful we’ll have him back in a timely fashion,” he said.

If that turns out to be the case, than that’s great news for the Penguins winning another Cup, but the bigger picture damage to Crosby’s health has already been done.  We may not see it for years, but there is overwhelming evidence that repeated head injuries could have sad ramifications on Crosby’s health, and even a speedy return to the ice shouldn’t have fans cheering.