Crawford

[mikita's helmet]

Trading for Miller would solve the Crawford dilemma.

 

[Sunbiz1]

Best Hawks goaltender of all time!

SHUTOUT in the Cup clinching game. No one can say shit after that. EAT IT

Had Keith not done such a stellar job while logging record playoff minutes, Crawford would easily be SC holder.

 

[mikita's helmet]

Had Keith not done such a stellar job while logging record playoff minutes, Crawford would easily be SC holder.

huh? the CS?

Crow was lights out the last 3 games, when it counted, but also had his less than stellar moments in these playoofs.

Don't know who would've won the CS if Keith didn't.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Crawford is the most elite soft goalie I've ever seen.

 

[mikita's helmet]

Crawford is the most elite soft goalie I've ever seen.

Haven't you left for Ireland yet, so we can talk aboot ya.
Or are ye really headed to Northern Europe for some huntin'?
[video=youtube;uvwEyHeRSvE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvwEyHeRSvE[/video]

 

[Tim Whatley]

Had Keith not done such a stellar job while logging record playoff minutes, Crawford would easily be SC holder.

Jeff,

Could you PM me please? I would like to talk with you in private but I do not have private message permissions yet.

All the best,

DL

 

[FireFox]

Had Keith not done such a stellar job while logging record playoff minutes, Crawford would easily be SC holder.

So... Your name is Jeff?

 

[Rex]

No Thanks Jeff LOL

 

[Rex]

Crow played great the last 3 games but 6 million is still 6 million, that cap relief can go a long ways. Fans may thank Crow and Sharpie for their contributions but it's time for them to move on as that would free up 11.9 million just off two bodies and will allow Bowman to become more flexible this offseason.

Because Crow played so great, his stock has only gone up, now is the time to let him walk if the Hawks can get a 1st round top 15 pick

A) How many teams in the NHL are looking for goaltending this summer?
B) How many of them have over 6m in cap space?
C) How many of them are in the Eastern Conference
D) How dumb are you to think we can contend with a goaltending duo who between the two of them have played a total of 53 games?

 

[Rex]

Am sure stupid fans like yourself were crying in their pillow when Antti Niemi walked, amirite?

No, I was happy when Niemi left. He was an overrated, poorly positioned goalie who played like shit for 3/4 of the playoffs that year, and we had a better goalie (Crawford) playing in Rockford.

Crawford beat Niemi for the spot in the 2009 training camp, but was sent down because his cap hit was higher.

It's cute that Chicago wins the cup and all of a sudden you know hockey though.

 

[Toast88]

"Anti"-Crawfords: "He's really really good and we like him. We hope the Hawks keep him, but we don't think he's top 5."

Pro-Crawfords: "You fucking haters!!"

 

[FireFox]

"Anti"-Crawfords: "He's really really good and we like him. We hope the Hawks keep him, but we don't think he's top 5."

Pro-Crawfords: "You fucking haters!!"

I am just happy the Hawks won.

 

[LordKOTL]

Crow played great the last 3 games but 6 million is still 6 million, that cap relief can go a long ways. Fans may thank Crow and Sharpie for their contributions but it's time for them to move on as that would free up 11.9 million just off two bodies and will allow Bowman to become more flexible this offseason.

Because Crow played so great, his stock has only gone up, now is the time to let him walk if the Hawks can get a 1st round top 15 pick

...and if that pick turns out to be another Sergei Samsonov, Cam Barker, or Kyle Beach?

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Am sure stupid fans like yourself were crying in their pillow when Antti Niemi walked, amirite?

LMAO.

Rex has been talking up Crawford since before the 2010 Cup win.

Moving on...

 

[Rex]

...and if that pick turns out to be another Sergei Samsonov, Cam Barker, or Kyle Beach?

That never happens! Top 15 picks are always stars!

 

[Ton]

No, I was happy when Niemi left. He was an overrated, poorly positioned goalie who played like shit for 3/4 of the playoffs that year, and we had a better goalie (Crawford) playing in Rockford.

Crawford beat Niemi for the spot in the 2009 training camp, but was sent down because his cap hit was higher.

It's cute that Chicago wins the cup and all of a sudden you know hockey though.

Right on, I was talking about this with another fan a couple days ago.

Don't forget, Crawford and Niemi battled it out in Rockford the year prior, and many people... including me... thought that Crawford was the better of the two by the end of the year. Training camp rolled around and once again, Crawford outplayed Niemi, but Niemi was on a one-way deal and they did not want to lose him to another team.

After the Hawks won the Cup in 2010, that summer the Hawks had a choice... they either kept Niemi or let Hjalmarsson walk to the Sharks. At the time, I was pretty confident in Crawford and didn't really care that they were about to lose Niemi since he was still fairly green despite coming off the Cup win. They signed Turco, which was a pretty good bridge for Crawford to begin his NHL career and the rest is history.

The Hawks are not in the same situation this summer. Crawford is a well-established goaltender, where Niemi was still a rookie coming off maybe 30-35 games in his NHL career. After 2010, they could afford to roll the dice at the goaltender position because it wasn't established yet. Luckily, Crawford worked out beautifully. Today, the Hawks cannot afford to take that same risk and hope to strike on a mid-20's goaltender that has less than 20 games of experience, when they already have one that they know can win. That is so incredibly backwards, I don't even understand where that line of thinking comes from.

 

[BlackHawkPaul]

Right on, I was talking about this with another fan a couple days ago.

Don't forget, Crawford and Niemi battled it out in Rockford the year prior, and many people... including me... thought that Crawford was the better of the two by the end of the year. Training camp rolled around and once again, Crawford outplayed Niemi, but Niemi was on a one-way deal and they did not want to lose him to another team.

After the Hawks won the Cup in 2010, that summer the Hawks had a choice... they either kept Niemi or let Hjalmarsson walk to the Sharks. At the time, I was pretty confident in Crawford and didn't really care that they were about to lose Niemi since he was still fairly green despite coming off the Cup win. They signed Turco, which was a pretty good bridge for Crawford to begin his NHL career and the rest is history.

The Hawks are not in the same situation this summer. Crawford is a well-established goaltender, where Niemi was still a rookie coming off maybe 30-35 games in his NHL career. After 2010, they could afford to roll the dice at the goaltender position because it wasn't established yet. Luckily, Crawford worked out beautifully. Today, the Hawks cannot afford to take that same risk and hope to strike on a mid-20's goaltender that has less than 20 games of experience, when they already have one that they know can win. That is so incredibly backwards, I don't even understand where that line of thinking comes from.

Some "fans" are ignorant, some are just dumb.
I'm also looking at comparable netminders and their salaries in the Central division. The Blackhawks have a good thing shoring Crawford until the 2020 season.

 

[BlackHawkPaul]

Let's look at the Central.
Minnesota needs to come up with UFA $$ for Dubnyk, which also means they're carrying 3 netminders, unless they buy out Backstrom (3.4m for 1 more year). Kemper will be the backup.

The Avs have Varly (5.9m) and Berra (1.45) as the backup.

The Blues have Elliott for 2 more years (2.5m) and Jake Allen as a RFA raise (they'd be stupid not to keep him).

Dallas has Lehtonen (5.9m) for 3 years and Enroth as a UFA (will probably walk).

Jets have Pavelec (3.9m) for 2 more years and Hutchinson at a minimum contract (enter any name as a backup).

Nashville has everyone's fantasy pick for the Central in Rinne (7m) for 4 more years and ex Hawk Hutton (725k) backing him up on the 10-12 nights that Pekka doesn't play (or isn't hurt).

 

[LordKOTL]

Right on, I was talking about this with another fan a couple days ago.

Don't forget, Crawford and Niemi battled it out in Rockford the year prior, and many people... including me... thought that Crawford was the better of the two by the end of the year. Training camp rolled around and once again, Crawford outplayed Niemi, but Niemi was on a one-way deal and they did not want to lose him to another team.

After the Hawks won the Cup in 2010, that summer the Hawks had a choice... they either kept Niemi or let Hjalmarsson walk to the Sharks. At the time, I was pretty confident in Crawford and didn't really care that they were about to lose Niemi since he was still fairly green despite coming off the Cup win. They signed Turco, which was a pretty good bridge for Crawford to begin his NHL career and the rest is history.

The Hawks are not in the same situation this summer. Crawford is a well-established goaltender, where Niemi was still a rookie coming off maybe 30-35 games in his NHL career. After 2010, they could afford to roll the dice at the goaltender position because it wasn't established yet. Luckily, Crawford worked out beautifully. Today, the Hawks cannot afford to take that same risk and hope to strike on a mid-20's goaltender that has less than 20 games of experience, when they already have one that they know can win. That is so incredibly backwards, I don't even understand where that line of thinking comes from.

I think the line of thinking comes from a few facets:

1) They think that because Neimi and Crawford were able to take the reins that any young netminder can--completely frogetting that they had an established vet *actually* be the starter when the year began when they took over.

2) They fail to realize that in many cases those aging vets acually mentored the young goalies through rough patches even after the rookies took over.

3) They fail to see when the core plays bad. Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabrook, Hossa, Soon-to-leave Sharp and soon-to-be core Saad put in a bad night and they gloss over it. Crawford plays great to exceptional and it's what he's paid to do. Since they marginalize the fault of the skaters they assume that additional skater pieces won't have the same fault (even an additional skater piece that has the pedigree of our 6M players), they feel it's an aceptable risk to slot an unfamiliair high-priced skater piece as opposed to a keeping a familiar high-priced netminder piece.

4) They assume that a lower-priced goalie can bring the same--or better performance. Crawford makes 6M for a reason. Any goaltender not making as much either hasn't earned the 6M like Crawford has--through numbers or hardware, or their current deal hasn't expired and they will on their next payday.

5) They don't like the fact that he's not "flashy"...even though the 2 jennings and 2 cups proves he gets the job done.

6) They seem to presume that only Crawford lets in softies. Every goalie lets in softies.

7) They assume every softie can break the will of the skaters. If that was the case why would any team pay top dollar for stars that wilt under pressure?

8) They're myopic to the point where they an see every instance when the D bails the netminder out as clear as day and uses it as an example of how the netmider is not that good, but gloss over every time the netminder bails the team D out (but of course they never miss the chance to point out that it's the netminders job to bail out the D when the netminder fails to do so--even if the D that screwed the pooch in question is a 2-time norris winner or a Selke-winner).

9) The vert nature of the position can cloud the judgement of even the best hockey fans: Every time the netminder makes a mistake a red light comes on and about 20,000 fans either cheer or boo the netminder. Ever time a superstar skater makes a mistake either the netminder quietly bails their ass out, or a red light comes on and 20,000 fans cheer or boo the netminder.

10) Crawford raped their dog with a plow
Probably not, but the way a few fans come off you would think he had.

 

[Rex]

Varlomov, Fleury and Lehtonen all make 5.9 yet we ***** at Crawford making $100,000 more?

There are 9 goalies making 6m and above. Crawford is one of two that has a cup ring, and the only one that didn't earn that cup on the bench.