Consistent performance, not stats, make Crawford No. 1 in Chicago

By Chris Kober | Hockeytalk.biz

NOVEMBER 27, 2011 -- Corey Crawford’s numbers don’t jump off the page. His .902 save percentage and 2.77 goals against average are serviceable, but nothing that will catapult him into the Vezina debate with the likes of Pekka Rinne and Henrik Lundqvist. His blocking style doesn’t capture the imagination like the acrobatics of Tim Thomas. With the spotlight in Chicago shining so brightly on young superstars, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, his influence is overshadowed even further, but the Blackhawks rely heavily on the young goaltender and there is one reason why: He wins.

There are only two categories in which Crawford (left) ranks among the NHL’s top ten, Games Played (T-2nd, 21) and wins (T-2nd, 11).

“I’m always ready,” Crawford said Saturday after back to back victories in Anaheim and Los Angeles. “I like to play so the more I play, I feel good.”

And it’s a good thing he likes to play, because despite having a backup in Ray Emery who has been to a Stanley Cup Final in 2007 with Ottawa and admirably stood in for Jonas Hiller last year, taking Anaheim to the playoffs, Crawford has appeared in all but three games this season for the Blackhawks.

The two wins in southern California closed out the Blackhawks annual “Circus Trip” on a good note, getting the team back to .500 on the six game sojourn. The trip started out bad for both the team and Crawford. After a win in Vancouver, he gave up five goals on 26 shots in a loss to Calgary and in relief for Emery the following night, Crawford stopped only five of seven shots directed his way as the ‘Hawks fell to the Oilers 9-2. After that, Crawford righted the ship personally giving up only one to San Jose, but his team mates were shut out by his predecessor, Anti Niemi.

“I haven’t been getting the results that I wanted. I feel like I need to give a little bit more but that was another good game from us,” Crawford said of the game against the Kings. “I don’t know, I just felt like I’ve been giving up a lot of goals, maybe I was just letting it get to me but the team’s been playing well the last three games and we’re giving up less chances so that’s definitely a factor.”

To see Crawford’s value to the team, one need only look back to last season, game seven in Vancouver. History will remember Toews’ diving shorthanded goal that tied the game with less than two minutes on the clock and Alex Burrows’ game winner in overtime, but Crawford was the hero of that game. It may seem counterintuitive to consider the goaltender that gave up an overtime goal for his team to be eliminated from the playoffs by its arch nemesis the hero of the game, but were it not for Crawford’s superlative play the game would have been a runaway for Vancouver rather than the iconic moment it’s become.

It isn’t evident on paper, but in person Crawford is clearly the right man on the right team making the crucial saves in the crucial moments. With players like Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa, Keith and Seabrook skating out, the ‘Hawks don’t need a goalie to stand on his head for 60 minutes, rather they need one who can weather the storm in key times, and that’s exactly what Crawford gives them.

His poise when the opposition is pressuring the crease and his efficient lateral movement to snuff out rebound opportunities is truly something to behold, even if they don’t show up on his stats sheet.

“Crow made some key saves on a few bouncing pucks and we found a way to get through,” Said Head Coach Joel Quenneville after the Kings game, although it could have been said of nearly any one of his appearances. “In San Jose he was pretty good too but I thought he needed to be strong around the net. They crashed the net the second opportunities he seemed to find pucks and [was] very quick, very sharp.”

The late, great Jack Falla said in his book Open Ice, that hockey should be more synthesis than analysis. Crawford is a great example of this, in that his statistics aren’t the be all end all of his success and although he plays a highly technical style, his intangible qualities of awareness and determination are what set him apart.

Top