Corey Crawford

Corey Crawford (born on December 31, 1984 in Châteauguay, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing Career[]

Junior[]

Corey was drafted 52nd overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. He spent his pre-junior career playing for the Midget AAA Gatineau Intrépides before spending his junior career with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

He was the goaltender for the Wildcats in the 2003–04 QMJHL playoffs when they ousted the Rimouski Océanic in the semi-finals to advance to the President's Cup final, but they lost that series to the Gatineau Olympiques.

Corey currently holds the Wildcats record for lowest goals against average (GAA) (2.47 in 2004–05), most wins (35 in 2003–04) and is tied with Simon Lajeunesse for most shutouts in a season (six in 2004–05). He was twice named to the QMJHL's Second All-Star team (2003–04, 2004–05).

Professional[]

On January 22, 2006, Corey made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks against the Minnesota Wild. He relieved Adam Munro in the third period, made seven saves and did not allow any goals. He recorded his first career start against the St. Louis Blues on February 2, 2006. He finished the evening with five goals allowed and 29 saves in a 6–5 shootout loss.

Corey recorded his first career win and shutout against the Anaheim Ducks on March 5, 2008. He also recorded a strong performance against the Detroit Red Wings, stopping 45 of 47 shots in a 3–1 loss on March 11th.

On July 21, 2008, the Blackhawks re-signed Corey to a one-year deal. He was recalled from the American Hockey League (AHL) on November 28th to take the place of Nikolai Khabibulin, who had been injured two nights earlier.

He made his first Stanley Cup playoffs appearance on May 24, 2009, in the second period of the Western Conference Finals against the Detroit Red Wings, replacing Cristobal Huet. He stopped six of seven shots before being replaced by Huet after the second period.

Due to the departures of Antti Niemi to the San Jose Sharks and Cristobal Huet to the Swiss National League A, Corey was promoted to back-up goaltender behind Marty Turco for the 2010–11 season.

Later in the season, Corey became the team's starting goaltender, replacing the veteran Turco. He had a two-game shutout streak later in the season and compiled a 176:09 shutout streak from January 7 to 15, the longest by a Blackhawks netminder since Tony Esposito from January 16 to 30, 1972.

From February 20 until March 5, 2011, Corey had an eight-game win streak, setting a new record for the longest such streak for a rookie. The streak was also one game short of the team record set by Glenn Hall.

He earned his 30th win of his rookie season on March 28, 2011, at Detroit, becoming the first Blackhawks goaltender to reach the 30-win milestone since Jocelyn Thibault did it with 33 wins in the 2001–02 season.

In his first playoff series against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks, Corey recorded a 36-save shutout in game five of the 2011 Western Conference Quarter-finals, marking the first time he recorded a shutout in the NHL playoffs, and the Blackhawks' largest margin of victory (5–0) in franchise history in a playoff game.

However, the Blackhawks ultimately lost the series to the Canucks in seven games when Alexandre Burrows scored the series-winning overtime goal for Vancouver.

On May 19, 2011, Corey signed a three-year, $8 million contract extension with the Blackhawks. After the 2010–11 season, he was named to the NHL All-Star Rookie Team.

Following the 2010–11 regular season, he entered the year as the Blackhawks' number one netminder. After starting the year off strong, he struggled for a majority of the season and was often benched in favour of veteran backup Ray Emery, who played extensively down the stretch.

However, Emery could not solidify his hold on the starter's role and as a result, Corey reclaimed the team's starting goaltender position. After going 8–1–2 over his last 11 games, he was confirmed as the starter for the Blackhawks heading into the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.

In all, Corey finished his second full season playing in 57 games and posting a 30–17–7 record with a .903 save percentage and 2.72 GAA with no shutouts. He became the first Blackhawks goalie to win at least 30 games in back-to-back seasons since Ed Belfour did it in the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons.

Entering the lock-out-shortened 2012–13 season, there were doubts as to whether Corey could return to his stellar form from his rookie season. The team re-signed Ray Emery to give him a push for the starting job.

The Blackhawks started off the season with a point streak of 24 consecutive games (21–0–3) with Corey getting off to a strong 11–0–3 start before struggling in a loss to the Colorado Avalanche in which he was pulled midway through the game after allowing three goals on 16 shots. He finished the season with a record of 19–5–5, with a 1.94 GAA, and a .926 save percentage with three shutouts.

Due to his efforts, Corey was awarded the William M. Jennings Trophy (along with Ray Emery) who finished with a 1.94 GAA as well. He was confirmed as the starter for the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs and started every game as Chicago eventually won the Stanley Cup, prevailing over the Boston Bruins in six games.

On September 2, 2013, Corey signed a six-year, $36 million contract extension with the Blackhawks through the 2019–20 season.

He started the 2014–15 season with a 12–5–1 record, however, he injured his foot on December 1, 2014, while attending a Rise Against concert. Due to this, he was expected to miss two-to-three weeks.

Corey was selected to play in the 2015 NHL All-Star Game, one of six players selected via fan-vote (the others being his teammates Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, as well as the Buffalo Sabres' Zemgus Girgensons).

On March 23, 2015, Corey became the fourth goalie in Blackhawks franchise history to have four 30-win seasons. He and Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens, won the William M. Jennings Trophy for the 2014–15 season. He finished the season with 32–20–5, recording a 2.27 GAA, a .924 SV % and two shut outs.

After allowing nine goals in two first round playoff games against the Nashville Predators, Corey was benched in favour of rookie goaltender Scott Darling, who posted three wins and one loss against the Predators. He relieved Darling in game six of the series after the Predators scored three goals in the first period. Crawford stopped all 13 shots he faced en route to a 4–3 win to take the series.

Corey was named the starter over Darling for the second round against Minnesota and started all four games in the second round sweep over Minnesota, allowing 7 goals in those 4 games. He also performed well in the following round versus the Anaheim Ducks, leading Chicago to a come-from-behind four games to three series win.

On June 15, 2015, Corey collected his second shutout of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs in a 2–0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals to give the Blackhawks their third Stanley Cup in the last six years. The win was also the second Stanley Cup for Crawford in his career.

During the 2015–16 NHL season, Corey appeared in 58 games for the Blackhawks. He posted a 2.37 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage, 35 wins and seven shutouts. In March 2016, The Blackhawks announced that he would miss an indefinite amount of time due to an unspecified upper-body injury.

Corey finished the year with a career high 35 wins and tied his career high save percentage at .924 and also had a career high seven shutouts (which also led the NHL among goalies).

He broke Tony Esposito's franchise playoff record for wins, with his 46th playoff win after stopping 29 shots in a 3-2 Game 2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. The Blackhawks would be eliminated from the playoffs by the Blues in seven games.

On December 3, 2016, Corey underwent emergency appendectomy surgery in Philadelphia on the morning before a road game against the Flyers. He returned to the Blackhawks lineup on December 23, 2016.

Corey started the 2017–18 NHL season ranking seventh in the NHL with a 2.29 goals-against average and fourth with a .930 save percentage in 21 appearances.

On December 1, 2017, the Blackhawks placed him on injured reserve after he sustained a lower-body injury the previous night.

Corey returned after missing three games, but sustained an undisclosed upper-body injury after playing in seven games. The Blackhawks stated that he would be out indefinitely, but they were hopeful that he could return before the end of the season.

However, the Blackhawks fell into last place in the Central Division, and were eliminated from playoff contention in early March. The Blackhawks left Corey on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.

Career Statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

			Regular season									Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	W	L	T/OT	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%	GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
2000–01	Gatineau Intrépides	QAAA	21	17	3	1	1,260	40	2	1.92	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Moncton Wildcats	QMJHL	38	9	20	3	1,863	116	1	3.74	.889	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Moncton Wildcats	QMJHL	50	24	17	6	2,855	130	2	2.73	.915	6	2	3	303	20	0	3.97	.890
2003–04	Moncton Wildcats	QMJHL	54	35	15	3	3,019	132	2	2.62	.919	20	13	6	1,170	42	0	2.15	.940
2004–05	Moncton Wildcats	QMJHL	51	28	16	6	2,942	121	6	2.47	.920	12	6	6	725	33	1	2.73	.918
2005–06	Norfolk Admirals	AHL	48	22	23	0	2,734	134	1	2.94	.898	1	0	1	17	1	0	3.49	.750
2005–06	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	2	0	0	1	86	5	0	3.48	.878	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Norfolk Admirals	AHL	60	38	20	2	3,467	164	1	2.84	.909	6	2	4	363	20	0	3.31	.884
2007–08	Rockford IceHogs	AHL	55	29	17	7	3,028	143	3	2.83	.907	12	7	5	741	27	0	2.19	.924
2007–08	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	5	1	2	0	224	8	1	2.14	.929	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Rockford IceHogs	AHL	47	22	20	3	2,686	116	2	2.59	.917	2	0	2	117	5	0	2.57	.909
2008–09	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	0	0	16	1	0	3.75	.857
2009–10	Rockford IceHogs	AHL	43	24	16	2	2,521	112	1	2.67	.909	4	0	4	216	13	0	3.61	.871
2009–10	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	1	0	1	0	59	3	0	3.04	.914	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	57	33	18	6	3,337	128	4	2.30	.917	7	3	4	435	16	1	2.21	.927
2011–12	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	57	30	17	7	3,218	146	0	2.72	.903	6	2	4	396	17	0	2.58	.893
2012–13	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	30	19	5	5	1,761	57	3	1.94	.926	23	16	7	1,504	46	1	1.84	.932
2013–14	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	59	32	16	10	3,395	128	2	2.26	.917	19	11	8	1,234	52	1	2.53	.912
2014–15	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	57	32	20	5	3,333	126	2	2.27	.924	20	13	6	1,223	47	2	2.31	.924
2015–16	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	58	35	18	5	3,323	131	7	2.37	.924	7	3	4	448	19	0	2.54	.907
2016–17	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	55	32	18	4	3,247	138	2	2.55	.918	4	0	4	254	12	0	2.83	.902
2017–18	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	28	16	9	2	1,584	60	2	2.27	.929	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	39	14	18	5	2,213	108	2	2.93	.908	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2019–20	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	40	16	20	3	2,341	108	1	2.77	.917	9	4	5	544	30	0	3.31	.907
NHL totals			488	260	162	53	28,119	1,146	26	2.45	.918	96	52	42	5,994	240	5	2.38	.918

International[]

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	W	L	MIN	SV%	GA	SO	GAA
2016	Canada	WCH	Template:Goca		1	1	0	60	.950	1	0	1.00
Senior totals					1	1	0	60	.950	1	0	1.00

Accolades[]

2003–04 QMJHL Second All-Star Team
2003–04 QMJHL Telus Defensive Player of the Year
2004–05 QMJHL Second All-Star Team
2010–11 NHL All-Rookie Team
2011 NHL Star of the Week of Feb. 20–27
2013 NHL Second Star of the Week of Jan. 20–27
2012–13 William M. Jennings Trophy (with Ray Emery)
2013 Stanley Cup Champion
2015 NHL All-Star Game
2014–15 William M. Jennings Trophy (shared with Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens)
2015 Stanley Cup Champion
2015 NHL First Star of the Week of Dec. 6–13
2016 NHL Second Star of the Month of January 2016
2016 World Cup of Hockey championship (with Team Canada)