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Blackhawks encouraged by goalie Crawford's recovery

There was some encouraging news on the Corey Crawford front Thursday as coach Joel Quenneville said the Blackhawks' goalie has "really progressed well" in the past few days.

Crawford, who will miss his eighth straight game when the Hawks play in Winnipeg on Friday, has been dealing with an upper-body injury that was at first deemed day-to-day. Scott Darling has gone 3-3-1 with a .918 save percentage in relief of Crawford.

Quenneville believes Crawford will be ready for the NHL postseason, which begins April 13.

"We expect him on the ice this weekend and go from there," Quenneville said. "Good progress here the last day or so, and that was encouraging."

The Hawks will also be without Marian Hossa (illness) in Winnipeg. Quenneville believes Hossa will miss one game and be able to play Sunday against the Bruins.

Tomas Fleischmann skated in place of Hossa on the top line at practice Thursday, with Andrew Ladd on the left wing and Jonathan Toews at center.

Meanwhile, Artem Anisimov will play Friday after missing the past two games with a lower-body injury.

Fundraising success:

The Blackhawks and Wild announced that their joint fundraising efforts to help Matt Olson, the Isanti, Minnesota native who suffered a severe spinal cord injury last month playing for the Chicago Cougars, raised in excess of $175,000.

The 10 experiences donated by the two teams raised $81,600. Matt's Go Fund Me page also saw nearly $50,000 in donations since these efforts were announced nearly two weeks ago.

Matt's parents, Sue and Doug, thanked both teams and everyone who bid on auction items and made donations for their son.

Fans can continue to donate at www.chicagoblackhawks.com/mo3.

Signing:

The Blackhawks came to terms on a three-year deal with Swedish defenseman Robin Norell.

The Hawks selected the 21-year-old Norell in the fourth round of the 2013 draft. He played 99 games for the Swedish Hockey League's Djurgardens IF in two seasons, and reported to the Rockford IceHogs.

Slap shots:

Patrick Kane needs 6 points in the Hawks' next five games to reach 100 for the season. No Blackhawks player since Jeremy Roenick in 1993-94 has scored 100 points. ... Joel Quenneville is 2 wins away from reaching 800 during his coaching career. ... The Hawks have gone from first to sixth in the NHL on the power play as they don't have a PP goal in the last eight games. They've had 26 chances over that span.

He said it:

"English is good. I can almost have a conversation with him now. … His answers are very short, but he understands exactly what you're talking about."

- Joel Quenneville on Artemi Panarin

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