CHICAGO _ It has been a long and arduous process for Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford to complete his return to the NHL from last season's concussion, so what's one more day before making it official?
The Hawks face the Coyotes on Thursday night at the United Center, and Crawford is expected to get the start after nearly 10 months away from the game.
"I'm feeling good, feeling clear," Crawford said Wednesday after practice. "We're going to still wait until tomorrow morning, but right now I'm doing good."
Joel Quenneville echoed Crawford's words.
"We'll see how he is in the morning, but we expect him to play tomorrow," Quenneville said.
It could be that the Hawks and Crawford are simply maintaining the extraordinary caution they've shown since Crawford attempted to return to practice in February and subsequently was shut down for the rest of the season.
Or perhaps they want to wait an extra day because Crawford's return from injured reserve will necessitate a roster move, likely involving backup goalie Anton Forsberg.
In either event, Crawford is on the cusp of playing in his first game since Dec. 23. If he plays, it would mark exactly 300 days since he last played.
"It was a pretty long process," Crawford said. "But I think the most important thing was not to rush anything. When I finally was out, it got to a point where I wasn't in shape to play and it was time to rest and it's unfortunate it took a lot longer than I would've liked.
"It's been long but I got a lot of help from a lot of people, (including) our trainers. Been working with another trainer outside that (Hawks trainer Mike Gapski) set me up with, and she's been doing a great job.
"It's been long, but finally just to get back and be practicing with the team has meant a lot. It's good to get to this point now when you're really close to playing."
