After a 124-day hiatus, the Blackhawks returned to Fifth Third Arena on Monday for the first time as a group since the NHL paused its 2019-20 season four months ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It felt like the first day of school again when the teams transitioned to Phase 3 in preparation for the Back to Play plan on August 1.
The Blackhawks know they are fortunate to be one of the 24 teams included and want to take advantage of this new opportunity to make a potential career in the Stanley Cup. But they may have to do it without one of their biggest players.
Corey Crawford was the only Blackhawk absent on the first day of training camp and was declared “unfit to play,” according to head coach Jeremy Colliton.
“For now, he is not fit to play,” said Colliton. “I think the NHL has made it pretty clear that that will be the policy going forward as to how we will announce all injuries.” So that’s all I have for you.
Now, before continuing, it is important to note that “not fit to play” is the league-wide terminology used to describe any medical and injury-related absence for Phases 3 and 4. In conjunction with the Association of NHL players, the NHL announced that it prohibits teams from disclosing information about injuries and / or illnesses out of respect for a player’s right to medical privacy.
Due to this agreement, it is not fair to speculate on what could be happening. However, what we do know is that the deadline for players to choose not to restart the NHL was Monday at 4 p.m. CT and Crawford’s name was not, to our knowledge, part of that list.
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While it’s unclear how long he could put it aside, the Blackhawks have no choice but to start preparing for life without Crawford, given the narrow window. And if you’re not ready for the qualifying round, that changes things significantly.
The Blackhawks may be the No. 12 seed in the Western Conference, but they have become an annoying popular choice against the No. 5-seeded Edmonton Oilers because of their star power and championship pedigree. They also have a two-time Stanley Cup-winning goalkeeper who can warm up at any time and has a game A that’s as good as anyone’s.
Since the calendar changed to January, Crawford had a 10-9-1 record with an average of 2.33 goals against and a .928 save percentage. From January 27 onward, no goalkeeper had better high-danger goals saved above the average rate than Crawford’s 9.76, according to the Natural Stat Trick. He was one of the best netminders going on hiatus.
It will take time for goalkeepers across the league to regain speed, for a variety of reasons, making every practice on training ground even more valuable. Not being available for Day 1 certainly makes the challenge more difficult for Crawford, who has shown he can make a difference for the Blackhawks in one game and one series.
For now, the Blackhawks will rotate between Collin Delia, Malcolm Subban and Matt Tomkins in the first group and make it a competition for the No. 1 job if necessary. Kevin Lankinen is also part of the mix, but might not be a viable option since he underwent shoulder surgery in March.
Those four goalkeepers have 76 combined starts, 37 wins and zero postseason minutes in their NHL runs. To put that in perspective, Crawford has 85 starts and 48 wins in the playoffs alone.
The teams are slated to travel to their respective central cities on Sunday, July 26, meaning the Blackhawks have less than two weeks to complete their 31-man roster. The hope is that Crawford is at it. But will it be him? The Blackhawks’ playoff chances depend on it.
