Crawford ‘feels great’
Corey Crawford was back on the ice with his teammates Monday morning for the first time since suffering a lower body injury earlier this month — and the reviews of his performance were all positive.
“He’s looking good,” Patrick Sharp said. “He stopped me a few times in practice. He’s jumping around in there like he always is.”
“I thought he looked good, felt good,” coach Joel Quenneville added.
Of course the most important review of all came from Crawford himself.
“I feel great,” he said. “After the Christmas break, everything has gone well. I haven’t felt the injury at all on the ice. I’m ready to go.”
If things go as planned, Crawford is expected to join the team on its two-game road trip to New York and New Jersey later this week and get his first taste of game action in at least one of those games.
“Hopefully we’ll get in that practice before we go on that trip,” Quenneville said. “If all goes well, we’ll expect him to play on that trip.”
Crawford can’t wait.
“It felt pretty long when I was out,” he said. “I was getting bored there for a bit. It’s nice to be back on the ice with the guys.”
More presents for Sharp:Patrick Sharp was named the NHL#146;s first star of the week courtesy of leading the league with 6 goals and tying for second with 7 points, the highlight coming on his 32nd birthday when he recorded his third career hat trick in a romp over Colorado.#147;It#146;s kind of cool to be recognized like that,#148; Sharp said. #147;Just a string of good games.#148;His coach was a bit more effusive.#147;He had a great week ... he#146;s had a great year,#148; Joel Quenneville said. #147;The consistency in his game is at a new level.#148;For Sharp, who is vying for a spot on the Canadian Olympic hockey team, accolades like this certainly can#146;t hurt.#147;You know what#146;s coming in a couple of weeks or a couple of days, but who knows if those decisions have already been made or if it has any impact or not,#148; Sharp said. #147;I try not to think about it.#148; Shootout struggles:Fresh off a shootout loss in St. Louis, coach Joel Quenneville put it bluntly when assessing his team#146;s performance this year in shootouts.#147;We talk about it, we practice it, we#146;re not happy with it,#148; he said of the results this season. No one has struggled more than Blackhawks#146; leading scorer Patrick Kane, who is 0-for-9 this season, yet still has a career success rate of nearly 40 percent in shootouts.#147;It#146;s one of those things,#148; Quenneville said. #147;He#146;s had some good looks, but it#146;s just not going in for him. But we have a lot of confidence in him in that situation.#148;