Hawks will give Emery shot to backup Crawford

Ray Emery is coming to training camp in September with a legitimate shot to be the Blackhawks’ backup goalie.

The veteran Emery was invited to camp on a tryout basis, but general manager Stan Bowman said Wednesday he will be there to fight it out with Swedish rookie Alexander Salak to be Corey Crawford’s backup.

“We haven’t promised anybody anything,” Bowman said. “Obviously, Corey is our No. 1 guy, and he’s earned that right, and we’ll see how second place works out.”

Even though the Hawks signed Salak to a two-year, one-way contract worth $612,000 a season, he can be sent to the minors without clearing waivers because of his NHL experience level of just two games.

Salak would make $612,000 even if he was sent to Rockford.

The Hawks must either offer Emery a contract or release him before Oct. 1.

Emery was 7-2-0 in 10 games with Anaheim last season after coming off major hip surgery.

“We figure it’s a good opportunity to see how he stacks up against Salak,” Bowman said. “He obviously had a great run last year later in the season. He kind of single handedly got them into the playoffs when (Jonas) Hiller went down.

“He’s certainly got the ability and he’s a young guy. It’s going to make for a good competition. We’ll find out who deserves that spot. Guys earn their spot by how they play.”

Sweet home Chicago:While Patrick Sharp has grown to love Chicago, he had a tough adjustment to the city after he was dealt from Philadelphia in 2005 for Matt Ellison and a draft pick in former GM Dale Tallon#146;s best trade.The Hawks were awful and Sharp thought he was a big part of the Flyers#146; future along with Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.Sharp still remembers his first game with the Hawks, and not because the United Center was half empty.#147;When I first came to Chicago, I heard it was an Original Six team and a great hockey town,#148; Sharp said. #147;My first game against the Rangers there were all kinds of No. 10 jerseys in the stands and I said, #145;Wow, they#146;re not kidding, these fans know their stuff. I already have a bunch of fans.#146;#147;That was until the national anthem they all turned around and and they were Tony Amonte jerseys.#147;It was a little different coming to Chicago six years ago. It#146;s amazing to see the transformation. It seems like year after year things get better on and off the ice.#148;Tickets on sale:Single-game tickets for Hawks preseason games at the United Center will go on sale on Monday, with single-game tickets for the regular-season games on sale starting Aug. 22. All tickets will be available for purchase ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Fans will be able to purchase up to eight tickets during the sales.Tickets for preseason games against Washington, Detroit and Pittsburgh go on sale at 11 a.m. Monday.Sales40002033The Blackhawks have a streak of 146 home games with capacity crowds since the end of the 2007-08 season. Single-game tickets for preseason games will go on sale Monday.Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.comSales