Blackhawks center Colin Fraser ready, willing, able

If you think Cristobal Huet came in cold to the blast furnace that's an Original Six matchup in the Western Conference finals, then Blackhawks center Colin Fraser heads into Game 4 as chilly as the United Center's ice surface.

That's 23.5 degrees Fahrenheit, by the way.

Fraser, who'll take Martin Havlat's spot on the active roster if the injured winger can't play today, has appeared in just one 2009 Stanley Cup playoff game.

With Patrick Kane sidelined by the flu for Game 3 against Calgary on April 20, Fraser played 7 minutes, 53 seconds and fired 1 shot while winning 3 of 7 faceoffs.

"I have been ready to go if need be and obviously they haven't needed me," Fraser said. "I still don't know how Marty is. Obviously, he's a huge player for us and we obviously want him out there.

"If it happens to be me, I've just got to step in and play the role that got me here in the first place."

During the regular season, Fraser battled his way to 6 goals and 11 assists in 81 games.

"That line has been one of the top, we'll say, role lines all year long: Energy line, checking line, enthusiasm line," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "But he can kill penalties for us as well, block shots, pays attention to details defensively."

Quick-change artist: One minute Corey Crawford was sitting in a suit on the press box level watching the Blackhawks take on the Red Wings at the United Center with the rest of the black aces.

The next minute the phone rang.

"Get down here," said Hawks goaltenders coach Stephane Waite. "We need you to get dressed."

Crawford put down the phone, sprinted for the elevator and once in the bowels of the United Center, continued to hot foot it into the locker room to don his goalie gear after starter Nikolai Khabibulin had to leave Friday's game following the second period because of an injury.

"I think that was the fastest I've ever put on my gear in my life," Crawford said. "I'm usually a laid-back guy, pretty slow. That was unusual to go at that speed."

Crawford reached the Hawks bench a few minutes into the third period, and just like that was one injury away from perhaps playing in the Western Conference finals.

"I was just so into the game; that didn't really go through my mind until afterwards," Crawford said.