Hawks confident Crawford ready to play in the NHL

It's fair to say Corey Crawford has paid his dues.

After waiting patiently in the minors for five seasons, Crawford's best opportunity to play goalie for the Blackhawks is here.

"With Antti (Niemi) leaving and Cristobal (Huet) leaving too, that just opens it up for me," said Crawford, who could start anywhere from 20 to 30 games as Marty Turco's backup. "There's still some good goaltenders here, but this is the best time for me to grab a spot."

There's still a big part of Crawford that has learned not to take anything for granted, especially after what he has been through in recent years.

Crawford, drafted in the second round in 2003, was supposed to be the Hawks' goalie of the future but has found his path to the NHL blocked on more than one occasion by the likes of Nikolai Khabibulin, Craig Anderson, Patrick Lalime, Huet and Niemi.

• Crawford was stung in the summer of 2008 when he thought he would be Khabibulin's backup that season only to watch the Hawks sign Huet to a five-year contract.

It was the plan of former general manager Dale Tallon to trade Khabibulin after signing Huet, but he couldn't get it done and it was off to Rockford for Crawford.

• Then last training camp, Crawford and Niemi battled for the backup job to Huet right up until the start of the regular season. While Niemi didn't outplay Crawford the Hawks decided to keep the Finn because of a contract situation, sending Crawford back in the American Hockey League.

"It kind of hurt, especially last year, but then again I couldn't give up because I want to play in this league," Crawford said. "It was tough, but I had to turn it around and use it as a positive because I wanted to be here."

There were several times when Crawford could have asked to be traded but instead he went to work and kept trying to improve and develop while hoping another chance with the Hawks would come his way.

"I still believed they wanted me here and believed in me," Crawford said. "Plus, I knew a lot of guys here and I like this organization. It feels like home for me."

Crawford's good attitude and strong work ethic, particularly last season at Rockford, did not go unnoticed by general manager Stan Bowman.

"Corey Crawford is an up-and-coming player for us," Bowman said. "He's spent a number of years developing in our system, and I think the time is now for him to get an opportunity to show us what he can do.

"He's a very technically sound player. He's a big guy. He takes up a lot of the net. And in today's game, the way these goalies play, you have to have the size to cover the net. He's certainly had a chance to learn his craft in the minor leagues."

Now Crawford is going to get the chance to learn even more from a veteran such as Turco.

"He has a ton of experience so anything he says, I'll listen," Crawford said.

Turco downplayed the idea of being a mentor to Crawford.

"For Corey and I, it's just friendship and having a good rapport," Turco said. "We're trying to accomplish the same goals - having the team look at us in the same light and give these guys confidence and belief in both of us and be the backbone of the team."

Crawford has come to camp and been among the most impressive players in the scrimmages.

"His movement is great and you can tell he has put a lot of work and time and effort into it," Turco said.

"He looks very comfortable in the net and very confident," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We think his upside has always been in place with him being a goalie at our level. It was just a matter of opportunity for him, so I think he's ready to take that next step and he looks like he wants it."

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