The Pittsburgh Penguins received great news on Wednesday morning.

Their star, leader and captain will be joining them on the road. Sidney Crosby has been cleared to skate with his teammates in practice, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The Post-Gazette is reporting that it's just a return to game-day morning skates, which don't include contact. The Trib report seems to insinuate that he will take contact. 

No. 87 will travel with his team to Florida for a two-game swing against the Panthers and Lightning, and while he won't play in game action, it's still a huge step in his recovery. He's been out since January 5 with a concussion, and there's been talk that he won't return at all this season.

That's still a possibility, of course. Crosby hasn't experienced any negative effects in the individual workouts he's been going through over the last few weeks, but there's no telling what will happen with full-speed, full-contact practices. 

Obviously, the Penguins are a much more dangerous team with Crosby in the lineup. Time is running out on the regular season, and there's no guarantee he could be back for the postseason, but this encouraging news is at least reason for optimism in Pittsburgh. Should Crosby return, the Pens will be even more of a force in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

For more, visit SB Nation's Pensburgh.