Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks Corey Crawford Deemed “Unfit to Play”

Corey Crawford has been deemed “unfit to play” for the Blackhawks? Is it long-term? What next?

by
NHL Trade Talk
July 13, 2020

Before anyone gets too far ahead of themselves, any player being deemed “unfit to play” doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll miss the entire play-ins or playoffs. In fact, it might not mean they’ll miss any time at all. For example, Caleb Jones of the Edmonton Oilers was deemed unfit to play but was skating today on a second sheet of ice at the Oilers first day of training camp.

Still, news that No. 1 goaltender for the Chicago Blackawks, Corey Crawford being deemed unfit to play certainly isn’t good news to start the Hawks training camp.

For now, it could be one or two days that Crawford will miss Phase 3 on-ice activities. It was not specified if he was dealing with health issues or a general fitness issue. But, head coach Jeremy Collition said on the news, “Today, Corey is unfit to participate. For now, it’s an opportunity for those guys to compete.”

Jeremy Colliton on Corey Crawford and the opportunity for Subban, Delia and Lankinen. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/JKfUt4jKuD
— Eric Lear (@BHTVeric) July 13, 2020

Again, because the NHL has handed down strict guidelines on what can be said when it comes to why players are absent, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman would only say:

“The way we are handling this is we’re looking at the guys that are here and ready to play. And when Corey’s in that group, then we can talk about Corey. … That’s a tough one to speculate on.”

So Now What For Chicago?

Collition agreed that this was going to be an opportunity for the team to rotate through Collin Delia, Malcolm Subban, Matt Tomkins, and Kevin Lankinen.

“It’s an opportunity for those other guys to compete,” Colliton said of the goaltending competition. “It’s a great opportunity for them and for us to evaluate them. We expect a lot of competition, and we have confidence in all three of those guys that they’re going to make it hard on us and play at a high level.”

If Crawford is out for an extended period of time, the already consensus favorite Edmonton Oilers just saw their chances of advancing get a whole lot better.

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