Crawford's band will do without second fiddle

Corey Crawford has backstopped the Blackhawks to a pair of Stanley Cup titles.

He's recorded 245 regular-season victories and another 48 in the postseason. Three of those wins came when he turned away 80 of 82 shots in Games 4, 5 and 6 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final against Tampa Bay.

Almost five years later, it's possible we are witnessing Crawford's last hurrah in Chicago.

And this is not the way he wants to go out.

Crawford, who is in the final year of a six-year, $36 million contract, is extremely frustrated with the way the last couple of seasons have gone - with this one quite possibly irking him the most.

Leaning back in his locker stall after Wednesday's morning skate, the 35-year-old goalie lamented how the Hawks aren't winning despite the fact that Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Brandon Saad and Duncan Keith are all having solid campaigns.

Yet, unless they put together an impressive run down the stretch the Hawks are going to miss the postseason for a third straight year.

This, after a remarkable nine-year playoff run that saw them reach five Western Conference finals and hoist the Stanley Cup three times.

But now reporters are theorizing that anyone and everyone could be on the trading block. And that includes Crawford, who has a modified no-trade clause that allows him to list 10 teams he'd be willing to play for.

"I never thought I'd be in that situation," Crawford said. "I guess if they ask I'll look at it."

The situation Crawford wishes the Hawks were in is to be competing for another championship. And while that seems unrealistic right now, Crawford was adamant that the players are focused on making a charge.

"Especially the older guys, we believe we can still win," he said. "We're pretty close to the playoffs. We want to get there again. I don't think we want this team blown up.

"All these guys - Duncs, Johnny, Kaner, Saader - they're all still at the top of their game and playing great. Duncs could be the best defenseman in the league.

"We're competitive, we think we could still win. So it's pretty frustrating."

Despite being healthy all season Crawford has been sharing the net with Robin Lehner, starting 29 of 60 games. He's 10-16-3 with a .912 save percentage and 2.89 goals-against average.

Before suffering a concussion midway through the 2017-18 season, Crawford started 55 to 58 games each year (removing the 48-game 2013 campaign, of course).

While coach Jeremy Colliton has utilized both goalies to keep them fresh, it hasn't necessarily been the best thing for Crawford, who loves to play game after game to stay in a rhythm.

"It would have been nice to play 60, 65 games," he said.

Said Colliton: "They both want to play more. They want to be in every night. If you play one guy, the other was wishing he was in. That's not a surprise."

As for next season, Crawford will not - under any circumstance - sign with a team that plans to make him a backup.

"Wherever it's going to be - whether it's here or another team - I'm not playing 30 games," he said. "I don't think I'm as effective doing that. I feel like it's a waste of time."

It's not inconceivable Crawford could return to the Hawks. Lehner, who seems to want to test free agency, might be asking for too much and be pricing himself out of Chicago.

If that's the case, Crawford - who is about to become a father for the second time and recently purchased a house in the city - may be back between the pipes for the Hawks for another season or two.

We'll have to wait and see, but it's a scenario that the veteran netminder would love to see unfold.

"I want to stay here and win another Cup here," Crawford said. "I mean, it would be great for this fan base, it would be great for this city if we could do that again."