Corey Crawford

Corey Crawford
Corey Crawford with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Born	December 31, 1984 Montreal, QC, CAN
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	208 lb (94 kg; 14 st 12 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
NHL team	Chicago Blackhawks
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	52nd overall, 2003 Chicago Blackhawks
Playing career	2005–present

Corey Crawford (born December 31, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the second round, 52nd overall, by the Blackhawks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. His teammates and fans often refer to him as "Crow." Crawford is a two time Stanley Cup champion with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015.

Playing career

Junior

Crawford was drafted 52nd overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. He spent his pre-junior career playing for the Midget AAA Gatineau Intrépides, before spending his junior career with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Crawford was the goaltender for the Wildcats in the 2003–04 QMJHL playoffs, when they ousted the Rimouski Océanic in the semi-finals to advance to the President's Cup final, but lost that series to the Gatineau Olympiques. Crawford currently holds the Wildcats record for lowest goals against average (GAA) (2.47 in 2004–05), most wins (35 in 2003–04) and is tied with Simon Lajeunesse for most shutouts in a season (six in 2004–05). He was twice named to the QMJHL's Second All-Star team (2003–04, 2004–05).

Professional

Crawford made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks on January 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Wild. He relieved Adam Munro in the third period, made seven saves and did not allow any goals. He recorded his first career start against the St. Louis Blues on February 2, 2006. He finished the evening with five goals allowed and 29 saves in a 6–5 shootout loss. He recorded his first career win and shutout against the Anaheim Ducks on March 5, 2008.^[1][2] Crawford also recorded a strong performance against the Detroit Red Wings, stopping 45 of 47 shots in a 3–1 loss on March 11.^[3]

The Blackhawks re-signed Crawford to a one-year deal on July 21, 2008.^[4][5] Crawford was recalled from the American Hockey League (AHL) on November 28 to take the place of Nikolai Khabibulin, who had been injured two nights earlier.^[6] Crawford made his first Stanley Cup playoffs appearance on May 24, 2009, in the second period of the Western Conference Finals against the Detroit Red Wings, replacing Cristobal Huet. He stopped six of seven shots before being replaced by Huet after the second period.

Due to the departures of Antti Niemi to the San Jose Sharks and Cristobal Huet to the Swiss National League A, Crawford was promoted to back-up goaltender behind Marty Turco for the 2010–11 season. Later in the season, Crawford became the team's starting goaltender, replacing the veteran Turco. He had a two-game shutout streak later in the season and compiled a 176:09 shutout streak from January 7 to 15, the longest by a Blackhawks netminder since Tony Esposito from January 16 to 30, 1972.^[7] From February 20 until March 5, 2011, Crawford had an eight-game win streak, setting a new record for the longest such streak for a rookie.^[8][9] The streak was also one game short of the team record set by Glenn Hall.

Crawford earned his 30th win of his rookie season on March 28, 2011, at Detroit, becoming the first Blackhawks goaltender to reach the 30-win milestone since Jocelyn Thibault did it with 33 wins in the 2001–02 season.^[10] In his first playoff series against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks, he recorded a 36-save shutout in game five of the 2011 Western Conference Quarter-finals, marking the first time he recorded a shutout in the NHL playoffs, and the Blackhawks' largest margin of victory (5–0) in franchise history in a playoff game. The Blackhawks ultimately lost the series to the Canucks in seven games, however, when Alexandre Burrows scored the series-winning overtime goal for Vancouver.

Corey Crawford warming up against the St. Louis Blues

On May 19, 2011, Crawford signed a three-year, $8 million contract extension with the Blackhawks. After the 2010–11 season, he was named to the NHL All-Star Rookie Team.^[11]

Following the 2010–11 regular season, Crawford entered the year as the Blackhawks' number one netminder. After starting the year off strong, Crawford struggled for a majority of the season and was often benched in favour of veteran backup Ray Emery, who played extensively down the stretch. However, Emery could not solidify his hold on the starter's role and as a result, Crawford reclaimed the team's starting goaltender position. After going 8–1–2 over his last 11 games, Crawford was confirmed as the starter for the Blackhawks heading into the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs. In all, Crawford finished his second full season playing in 57 games and posting a 30–17–7 record with a .903 save percentage and 2.72 GAA with no shutouts. He became the first Blackhawks goalie to win at least 30 games in back-to-back seasons since Ed Belfour did it in the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons.

Entering the lock-out-shortened 2012–13 season, there were doubts as to whether Crawford could return to his stellar form from his rookie season. The team re-signed Ray Emery to give him a push for the starting job. The Blackhawks started off the season with a point streak of 24 consecutive games (21–0–3), with Crawford getting off to a strong 11–0–3 start before struggling in a loss to the Colorado Avalanche in which he was pulled midway through the game after allowing three goals on 16 shots. He finished the season with a record of 19–5–5, with a 1.94 GAA, and a .926 save percentage with three shutouts. Due to his efforts, he was awarded the William M. Jennings Trophy along with Ray Emery, who finished with a 1.94 GAA as well. Crawford was confirmed as the starter for the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs and started every game as Chicago eventually won the Stanley Cup, prevailing over the Boston Bruins in six games. On September 2, 2013, Crawford signed a six-year, $36 million contract extension with the Blackhawks through the 2019–20 season.^[12][13]

Crawford started the 2014–15 season with a 12–5–1 record. He injured his foot, however, on December 1, 2014, while attending a Rise Against concert. Due to this, Crawford was expected to miss two-to-three weeks.^[14] Crawford was selected to play in the 2015 NHL All-Star Game, one of six players selected via fan-vote (the others being his teammates Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, as well as the Buffalo Sabres' Zemgus Girgensons). ^[15] On March 23, 2015, Crawford became the fourth goalie in Blackhawks franchise history to have four 30-win seasons. Crawford and Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens, won the William M. Jennings Trophy for the 2014–15 season.^[16] He finished the season with 32–20–5, recording a 2.27 GAA, a .924 SV % and two shut outs. After allowing nine goals in two first round playoff games against the Nashville Predators, Crawford was benched in favour of rookie goaltender Scott Darling, who posted three wins and one loss against the Predators.^[17] Crawford relieved Darling in game six of the series after the Predators scored three goals in the first period. Crawford stopped all 13 shots he faced en route to a 4–3 win to take the series.^[18] Crawford was named the starter over Darling for the second round against Minnesota. Crawford started all four games in the second round sweep over Minnesota, allowing 7 goals in those 4 games. Crawford also performed well in the following round versus the Anaheim Ducks, leading Chicago to a come-from-behind four games to three series win. On June 15, 2015, Crawford collected his second shutout of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs in a 2–0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals to give the Blackhawks their third Stanley Cup in the last six years. The win was also the second Stanley Cup for Crawford in his career.

During the 2015–16 NHL season, Crawford appeared in 58 games for the Blackhawks. He posted a 2.37 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage, 35 wins, and seven shutouts. In March 2016, The Blackhawks announced that Crawford would miss indefinite amount of time due to an unspecified upper-body injury.^[19]

Personal

A native of Châteauguay, Quebec,^[13] Crawford speaks both French and English fluently.^[20]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season										Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T/OT	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
2000–01	Gatineau Intrépides	QAAA		21	17	3	1	1,260	40	2	1.92	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Moncton Wildcats	QMJHL		38	9	20	3	1,863	116	1	3.74	.889		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Moncton Wildcats	QMJHL		50	24	17	6	2,855	130	2	2.73	.915		6	2	3	303	20	0	3.97	.890
2003–04	Moncton Wildcats	QMJHL		54	35	15	3	3,019	132	2	2.62	.919		20	13	6	1,170	42	0	2.15	.940
2004–05	Moncton Wildcats	QMJHL		51	28	16	6	2,942	121	6	2.47	.920		12	6	6	725	33	1	2.73	.918
2005–06	Norfolk Admirals	AHL		48	22	23	0	2,734	134	1	2.94	.898		1	0	1	17	1	0	3.49	.750
2005–06	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		2	0	0	1	86	5	0	3.48	.878		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Norfolk Admirals	AHL		60	38	20	2	3,467	164	1	2.84	.909		6	2	4	363	20	0	3.31	.884
2007–08	Rockford IceHogs	AHL		55	29	17	7	3,028	143	3	2.83	.907		12	7	5	741	27	0	2.19	.924
2007–08	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		5	1	2	0	224	8	1	2.14	.929		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Rockford IceHogs	AHL		47	22	20	3	2,686	116	2	2.59	.917		2	0	2	117	5	0	2.57	.909
2008–09	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		1	0	0	16	1	0	3.75	.857
2009–10	Rockford IceHogs	AHL		43	24	16	2	2,521	112	1	2.67	.909		4	0	4	216	13	0	3.61	.871
2009–10	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		1	0	1	0	59	3	0	3.04	.914		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		57	33	18	6	3,337	128	4	2.30	.917		7	3	4	435	16	1	2.21	.927
2011–12	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		57	30	17	7	3,218	146	0	2.72	.903		6	2	4	396	17	0	2.58	.893
2012–13	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		30	19	5	5	1,761	57	3	1.94	.926		23	16	7	1,504	46	1	1.84	.932
2013–14	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		59	32	16	10	3,395	128	2	2.26	.917		19	11	8	1,234	52	1	2.53	.912
2014–15	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		57	32	20	5	3,333	126	2	2.27	.924		20	13	6	1,223	47	2	2.31	.924
2015–16	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		58	35	18	4	3,305	131	7	2.37	.924		7	3	4	447	19	0	2.55	.907
NHL totals				326	182	97	39	18,736	732	19	2.34	.918		83	48	33	5,255	198	5	2.26	.920

Awards

• 2003–04 QMJHL Second All-Star Team
• 2003–04 QMJHL Telus Defensive Player of the Year
• 2004–05 QMJHL Second All-Star Team
• 2010–11 NHL All-Rookie Team
• 2011 NHL Star of the Week of Feb. 20–27
• 2013 NHL Second Star of the Week of Jan. 20–27
• 2012–13 William M. Jennings Trophy (with Ray Emery)
• 2013 Stanley Cup Champion
• 2015 NHL All-Star Game
• 2014–15 William M. Jennings Trophy (shared with Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens)
• 2015 Stanley Cup Champion
• 2015 NHL First Star of the Week of Dec. 6–13
• 2016 NHL Second Star of the Month of January 2016

References

1. "Blackhawks rookie Crawford gets shutout in first start". USA Today. Associated Press. March 5, 2008. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
2. "Anaheim at Chicago – 2008-03-05". Yahoo! Sports. March 5, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
3. Ungar, Lindsay (March 11, 2008). "Red Wings 3, Blackhawks 1". redwings.nhl.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
4. "Blackhawks Re-Sign Corey Crawford". blackhawks.nhl.com. July 21, 2008. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
5. "Blackhawks re-sign goaltender Crawford". July 21, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
6. "Blackhawks Recall Crawford; Johnson To IR". blackhawks.nhl.com. November 28, 2008. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
7. "Crawford named to 2011 NHL All-Rookie Team". blackhawks.nhl.com. June 22, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
8. "Blackhawks make it 8 straight". DailyHerald.com. Associated Press. March 5, 2011. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
9. Adams, Cheryl (March 30, 2011). "Making the case for Corey Crawford for the Calder". TheHockeyWriters.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
10. Boron, Brad (June 7, 2011). "The Blackhawks All-Draft Team". blackhawks.nhl.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
11. Rogers, Jesse (May 19, 2011). "Corey Crawford re-signs with Hawks". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
12. Lazerus, Mark (September 2, 2013). "Blackhawks sign Corey Crawford through 2020 with $36 million deal". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
13. Cowan, Stu (September 2, 2013). "A memorable Labour Day for Blackhawks goalie Crawford". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
14. Cooper, Josh (2014-12-03). "Corey Crawford hurts foot leaving concert, out 2–3 weeks". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
15. Kimmelman, Adam (January 3, 2015). "Girgensons, five Blackhawks named first 6 All-Stars". National Hockey League. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
16. Neveau, James (2015-04-12). "Corey Crawford Nabs William Jennings Trophy Saturday". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
17. Haugh, David (2015-04-16). "Scott Darling deserves Game 2 start for Blackhawks". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
18. Litke, Jim (2015-04-26). "Embarrassed early, Blackhawks hit their stride just in time". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
19. "Blackhawks' Crawford out with upper-body injury". NHL.com. 2016-03-17. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
20. Hedger, Brian (March 25, 2012). "Crawford overcomes obstacles to regain place in Hawks' net". blackhawks.nhl.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-02. Retrieved November 2, 2014.

External links

• Corey Crawford's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Corey Crawford biography at hockeygoalies.org – advanced statistics and game logs
• Official Blackhawks Profile
• Yahoo! Sports Profile