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Stanley Cup winning ‘Hawks pile on praise for Crawford

Corey Crawford

Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks hoists the Stanley Cup Trophy after defeating the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2. (June 23, 2013 - Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)

Since the start of the season, goaltender Corey Crawford has been arguably the most commonly doubted man on the Chicago Blackhawks’ roster. That was to be expected after his rough 2011-12 campaign, but it seemed at times like no amount of success could fully reverse that perception.

Whenever he had a rough game, the fear would be that it was a sign that the other shoe was dropping. Even as recently as last week, there were questions about whether he should be the team’s starter following his rough outing in Chicago’s 6-5 overtime victory in Game 4.

“I got a question the other day which kind of was surprising, ‘Who’s going to play your next game?’ It was obvious who’s playing our next game because he was the reason we were playing the next game,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said in a CSN Chicago report.

“The scrutiny that he was under at the end of last year going into the season, if he was capable of getting through the regular season, let alone the playoffs. His preparation going into the year was in the right place. I thought his consistency was great.”

Crawford was part this year’s Jennings Trophy winning tandem and ended up with a 1.84 GAA and .932 save percentage in 23 postseason games.

“He obviously took a lot of heat over the last couple of years. And all he’s done is just played unreal from start to finish this year,” Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith said. “I can’t say enough about him. The pressure on him, to do what he did was unbelievable.”

Viktor Stalberg added that "(Patrick Kane) is a worthy Conn Smythe winner. But if not him, I think Corey deserved it.”

As for Crawford, it doesn’t sound like this was all about proving himself to those who doubted him. This was about fulfilling a dream.

“I don’t know how many times we played for the Stanley Cup,” Crawford said, referring to his childhood games. “Obviously I had some great memories with (my brother) and my buddies. My family, the whole thing, everyone was behind me. They never quit on me. I couldn’t have done it without them.”