Do or Die year for Corey Crawford?

[ChicagoDawg1991]

Will the shortened season be the year that Crawford proves that his "Sophomore Slump" was a fluke or will this be his last year in a Hawks sweater?

 

[Captain Iago]

Yes, in a way (hopefully). Maybe what we saw out of him in 10-11 is the fluke?

 

[Heisenberg]

He sucks.

 

[Kleats]

Forget season . It might be his last month ( as starter ) . If he starts out laim , then hopefully Q pulls him quickly . He has never really impressed me .

 

[Capt. Serious]

And put in a sieve like Emery? uke:

 

[whitesoxman77]

And put in a sieve like Emery? uke:

Sieve! Sieve! Sieve! Sieve!
Emery is a great big sieve do da do da
Emery is a great big sieve, let's the puck go by
You Suck!
Let's the puck byyyyyy, let's the puck go byyyyyyy!
Emery is a great big sieve let's the puck go by, YOU SUCK!
ALL! NIGHT! LONG!

And that is what the opposing goalie hears at the start of every Golden Gopher hockey game

 

[whitesoxman77]

And where is the inbetween option for this poll? I dont think he can get much worse, a <91% is pretty damn bad, but I also dont think he going to show significant improvement

 

[Kleats]

And put in a sieve like Emery? uke:

Sieve #1 or sieve 1a is what both represent .

Crawford BLOWS .

That's the state of Hawks "goaltending".

And ... until they fix it - the Cup isn't coming back .

 

[Mason33]

Sieve #1 or sieve 1a is what both represent .

Crawford BLOWS .

That's the state of Hawks "goaltending".

And ... until they fix it - the Cup isn't coming back .

I agree with this. However, wasn't everyone questioning Niemi's abilities before we won the Cup with him? Granted, our defense was incredible during the championship run, but I remember hearing similar complaints with him in net.

 

[DMelt36]

Feels like a pretty obvious yes. Especially when you consider that Bowman should have ample room to make moves in the upcoming offseason.

 

[DMelt36]

I agree with this. However, wasn't everyone questioning Niemi's abilities before we won the Cup with him? Granted, our defense was incredible during the championship run, but I remember hearing similar complaints with him in net.

Everyone doubted him, I think, until he played lights out in the San Jose series.

 

[HawkWriter]

Feels like a pretty obvious yes. Especially when you consider that Bowman should have ample room to make moves in the upcoming offseason.

He won't have that much room with the salary cap coming down. Kruger/Leddy are RFA while Stalberg is a UFA. A few other guys expiring as well but no obvious raises like those 3 - even though I think 1 or even 2 of them (Leddy and Stalberg) could be traded before.

 

[DMelt36]

He won't have that much room with the salary cap coming down. Kruger/Leddy are RFA while Stalberg is a UFA. A few other guys expiring as well but no obvious raises like those 3 - even though I think 1 or even 2 of them (Leddy and Stalberg) could be traded before.

Don't forget about the buyouts.

 

[HawkWriter]

Don't forget about the buyouts.

The only real buyout candidate that I see is Montador. The way things are sounding, he might be on LTIR anyways which would knock the cap hit off. I don't see anyone else being bought out.

Blackhawks are in a good position right now cap wise for next year but things could get interesting.

 

[LonghornBob]

I think a lot of people are overlooking something important when thinking about Crawford and how we can fare with him in the playoffs.

Niemi hasn't been worth a shit in San Jose since he left. Why was he so good for us? We controlled the puck. The ice was constantly tilted. We just didn't give up that many shots, and the ones we did were blueline prayers. With Kane, Toews, Sharp, Ladd, Byflugien, Versteeg, Hossa, Eager and those guys we just didn't let other teams control the biscuit. I think if we were a shadow of that team we'd see similar results.

That said, I think Niemi and Crawford both suck and if Corey doesn't get his shit together this year they'll probably try Hutton late in the year or next year, and if he's a reject we'll have to sign someone.

 

[thewaynorth]

Just not sold on Crawford. Too inconsistent.

 

[Icculus]

So far OK for Crawford. At least he isn't the Tony Romo of NHL goalies aka Luongo.

 

[Crystallas]

I have a bigger issue with Crawford's cap-hit, than Crawford himself. If he was the backup and making about $1m less, he would become that obscure fan-favorite for some.