Corey Crawford To Start Game 1
As many expected, Corey Crawford was officially named the Blackhawks starter for Game One of their upcoming series against the Minnesota Wild.
Crawford was 2-2-0 against Minnesota during the regular season, posting a 2.02 goals against average with a .948 save percentage in four games.
I don’t think people are giving enough credit to Crawford for coming in relief and leading the Blackhawks to a series clinching victory in Game 6 against the Preds. Yes the Hawks suppressed shots, yes there were posts hit, but damn it is tough to come in and pitch a shutout. Crawford deserves the net and I suspect we see a pretty locked in goalie from here on out.
Again starting Crawford is the right call…I absolutely agree with it. However, go back and reread my first paragraph. You can insert the name Darling there and throw in 42 saves for Game 1…the relief both goalies has given is ridiculous.
I probably don’t change the forwards for Game 1 against Minnesota, but I could see TT or Nordy for Versteeg because of their ability to play defense quickly. The biggest issue is 44 on the back end…Kane skated around him in 2010…he hasn’t gotten any faster. The Wild can probably blitz 44 and 32’s side on rushes…it might not be pretty.
The Hawks will really need him to regain his form if the Hawks plan on advancing. The winner of this series will win the west. These are the two best teams in the West without a doubt. This is not going to best easy.
The bigger news is Tuevo replace Steeger, about time Q. I heard the funniest comment on the score about Q. They said “Q is like a turtle it takes a long time but eventually he gets there”. Its time to send Steeger away for good at this point. Hes not scoring and doesnt play any special teams so what is he bringing to the table? We all know that answer.
Website looks different.
Hopefully Crow can get past his poor performance in game 1 against the Preds.
When he is on top of his game, he is aggressive and challenges the shooter. For the goals he allowed, he was deep in the blue paint, looked tentative and not very confident.
Hopefully he has corrected this, because we certainly need him to be strong in goal in order to beat the Wild!
Wild is the type of team Crow will do well against. He wont face a lot of shots, Wild power play makes the hawks power play look awesome! So even if we win this series in 6 or 7 , i see low scoring for the wild, tight games, tight check, big hits and few mistakes in the first 2 or 3 games. Now Crow vs the Ducks they have some guys who can make you look bad.
go hawks
I think this is the right move. CC’s stats in the playoffs last year and in the first round this season are not very good, but he is our guy and has proven he can rise to the occasion in the pressure packed playoffs … and this is indeed going to be pressure packed for him.
In CC I trust.
Darling deserves the start. Period.
No way Darling deserves it. Crow is the unquestions GT moving forward.
Re: Crow starting… I think it is the right move…
However- let’s be Honest here… Crow didn’t see much in Game 6 relief… Left a wide open corner over his left shoulder on 1st shot that hit the post…
Muffed a shot in 2nd Period that refs blew dead early… and very well could have been the 4th goal… The team played much better D in front of him in game 6!!!
lastly- Crow has allowed 36 goals in last 8 playoff starts (and 1 game was 1 period)…
that is 4.5 gaa in last 8 PO starts…
Whoever plays in net for Hawks… they will need to be less/or around 2.5 gaa for Hawks to have a chance in this series… probably closer to 2.00…
for that reason- I think the Hawks are in trouble vs Wild… they are faster, younger on D, and Hot goalie/team…
Hot/Goalie team doesn’t mean S from series to series or even game to game. Crow and Quick both sucked in the WCF last year because neither team was playing defense.
NAS/CHI both scored more goals then STL/MIN did, every game is different. If these games are lowering scoring then those, then we will have 2.55 or less gaa.