What if the Blackhawks kept Antti Niemi as the starting goalie?

It is easy to forget that Corey Crawford was not the No. 1 goalie when the Chicago Blackhawks won the first of their three Stanley Cups last decade.

That is because Crawford went on to become one of the most beloved players in franchise history due to his outsized personality, along with being in net during the 2013 Stanley Cup run — the Hawks' best team of those three titles. He was also the netminder on the 2015 Stanley Cup championship. He cemented his Blackhawks' legendary status by putting on an amazing performance during the 2020 playoffs, his final season with Chicago.

With such a historic run, it almost feels like a given that he was in net in 2010.

Crawford was still a Hawks' prospect that year when that team snapped a 49-year championship drought. Crawford only played one game that year. Instead, the Hawks relied on a different young netminder to win the Stanley Cup.

Antti Niemi stepped up after Cristobal Huet fell apart down the stretch. He was outstanding in the playoffs, which allowed the Hawks to finally bring the Stanley Cup back to Chicago for the first time since 1961.

If Niemi had not come through down the stretch, the Hawks would have likely not won the whole thing that season. The title drought would have painfully dragged on.

Niemi did not earn legendary status because his Chicago tenure was brief due to the team's tight salary cap situation.

Niemi was awarded $2.75 million in salary arbitration that offseason. The Hawks were so close to the cap that the club could not make that figure work. Instead, the team signed veteran Marty Turco for less, and Niemi joined the San Jose Sharks.

Turco barely lasted half of the 2010-11 season as the main goaltender before being replaced by Crawford.

Somewhere in the multiverse, there is a situation where the Blackhawks found a way to keep Niemi (along with the eight players the team had to dump to be cap compliant). It is worth wondering if the Hawks would have won two more Stanley Cups. Maybe, Niemi makes the save in Game 7 of the 2014 Western Conference Finals, and the Hawks possibly win another one

Hawks would have thrived with Niemi.

Niemi had a solid run with the Sharks, posting a .917 save percentage and 2.57 goals against average during five regular seasons in San Jose. He also had a .905 save percentage in the playoffs for the Sharks with a 2.77 GAA.

That would have been satisfactory supporting production the Hawks needed because the netminder was a supporting player.

An important supporting player, but the Hawks had so much offensive firepower that the goalie was relied upon to just keep things from getting out of hand on the defensive end.

The strength of the Blackhawks was in their superstar core of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook.

Think about it, the Hawks were so stacked offensively, they won the 2015 Stanley Cup with Crawford having a rough first-round series against Nashville.

That is why Niemi's 2010 Western Conference Finals performance was a bonus. The Hawks likely would have beaten the Sharks, but it was Niemi who made the difference between a sweep and winning in six.

He allowed just seven goals in that sweep of the Sharks. His 44 saves in Game 3 allowed the Hawks to steal that game and cruise into the Stanley Cup Finals.

Crawford likely would have wrestled the No. 1 job away.

Having Crawford in the prospect pool likely played a major role in letting Niemi go. His cap hit was $850k in 2010-11. Salary cap space was sparse that season.

Even if Crawford was backing up Niemi for one year, Crawford would have played well enough to let Niemi walk during the next offseason.

Crawford was rock solid in 2010-11 with a .917 save percentage and a 2.30 GAA in 57 games, including 55 starts. Niemi posted a .920 save percentage with a 2.38 GAA in 60 starts that season.

If both were with the Hawks that year, Crawford likely would have played less but shown enough that he was the long-term option. Also, Crawford would have been on his first restricted free agency contract after the 2010-11 season. Niemi would have been an unrestricted free agent, bound to make more.

The Hawks were able to fit in Crawford's $2.6 AAV from 2011-2013 and still win a Stanley Cup. Niemi's AAV during that time was $3.8 million per PuckPedia. With the Hawks always having a tight salary cap situation during the glory days, Crawford's production and finances would have made it an easy choice to go with him over Niemi.