Blackhawks: Corey Crawford returns to summer training camp

After a long wait, Corey Crawford has taken the ice for the Chicago Blackhawks for the first time since March of 2020.

Corey Crawford returned to practice today, which has given the Chicago Blackhawks a huge boost in confidence if he is up to speed for Game 1 against the Oilers. The worries of him not playing at all were something that was a big concern among fans, but with Crawford returning today, the worries have lowly gone away.

Crawford allowed three goals in the first period of the Blackhawks scrimmage, which isn’t surprising, as the team has been practicing for two weeks now, with Crawford not doing anything on the ice during that time.

The likelihood of him being up-to-speed enough for him to play Game 1 is questionable, as he looked to be a step behind the guys during the scrimmage. He left after the first period, most-likely to give other goalies a shot in net and to help ease him along, instead of throwing him into the fire his first day back, as he was looking pretty rusty.

Even with Crawford not playing his best, this keeps the door open for him to play during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If he’s 100%, there’s no way the team doesn’t play him. They wouldn’t let Malcolm Subban play even in the second of a back-to-back game during the regular season!

Crawford and Colliton will be speaking to the media after practice, so we should find out more about how Crawford felt after Day 1 and on when he plans to play.

Chicago leaves for Edmonton tomorrow, which gives Crawford two practices in Edmonton before the exhibition game against the Blues, and another two before Game 1 against the Oilers. Is that enough to make up for the two weeks missed? I don’t know.