Blackhawks' Crawford going for 30 wins
Winning 30 games as a goaltender in the NHL is an achievement Corey Crawford recognizes as special.
Only 13 goalies have done it so far this season and none of them are rookies like Crawford. In fact, only one Blackhawks goalie has done it in the last 15 years, that being Jocelyn Thibault in 2001-02.
Crawford has a chance to grab his 30th win Saturday night in a critical game against the Anaheim Ducks at the United Center.
“That's one of the stats that means the most, the win column,” Crawford said Friday. “You want to win every game you play, or hopefully the majority of them, and to get to 30 is pretty tough.
“Obviously it reflects our team too because we have a really good team, but it does mean a lot to be able to reach that and hopefully it comes (Saturday).”
Crawford's emergence as a premier goalie has been one of the biggest stories of the season for the Hawks. Crawford certainly is one of the leading candidates for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year and should be the favorite based on his numbers, the position he plays, and the situation he walked into as the goalie for the defending Stanley Cup champions.
“He's awesome,” teammate Patrick Kane said. “In my mind he's probably the best rookie in the NHL this year and hopefully he can get that award and bring it back to Chicago. Thirty wins are pretty impressive for a goaltender.”
Crawford will be a restricted free agent after the season and admits his future has been on his mind at times. While general manager Stan Bowman told CSNChicago.com on Thursday that he was looking to get Crawford signed, the race to get into the playoffs is the most important thing at the moment and contracts may have to wait until after the season.
There's no doubt the Hawks will have more money to offer Crawford this off-season than they did Antti Niemi last summer when they chose to let Niemi walk as a free agent after he won his arbitration case.
“I'm not going to lie to you, it's gone through my head quite a bit this year,” Crawford said. “At times it's been hard to forget about, but I think I've done a pretty good job of letting it go and just worrying about hockey.
“This is a really fun place to play hockey and I don't know what they're thinking about in terms of a contract, but we'll talk about that when it's time. Right now our focus is just on hockey and worrying about getting into the playoffs.”
If the Hawks get into the playoffs, Crawford's steady improvement is going to be one of the big reasons why.
“The one thing with him is his consistency is a good trait,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “He's improving his overall demeanor of how to be a pro, and when I talk about a goalie that mentally is sometimes as challenging as physically. That's part of the process and he has handled it well.”
Crawford considers himself to be a much better goaltender than when he took over the No. 1 job in late November.
“It's the experience of playing games and learning the other teams and other players, and learning about myself, too,” Crawford said. “There are a lot of ups and downs and to find out how you can adjust to it when you get some downs and to be able to recover quick, it's all a learning prcess.
“It's a little harder on you when you lose games, but you have to shrug it off and look at the things you did wrong or could have done a little better and just move on and be focused and ready for the next game,” Crawford said. “That's the thing about this league, the games are so close together that you have to get rid of the negative thoughts as quickly as possible and move on and have your best game the next time out.”