Newsletter

Subban is ready to help Blackhawks if Crawford can’t play in the Cup qualifiers

CHICAGO – Malcolm Subban said he would be ready to start for the Chicago Blackhawks against the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, though Corey Crawford tilt.

“It could obviously be the chance of a lifetime,” said the goalkeeper after training on Wednesday. “For me, it only takes day to day and I keep working hard and making sure I’m ready when I get the chance.”

Crawford, who the Blackhawks classified as “unable to play” on Monday, did not take part in the first three days of the training camp. The 35-year-old also did not participate in the Chicago volunteer workouts that started on June 8.

Crawford was 16-20-3 with an average of 2.77 goals above average and a saving of 0.917 in 40 games (39 starts) before the season was interrupted on March 12 due to concerns about the corona virus. The upcoming free agent, who won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015, was healthy this season after missing 80 games due to concussions in the past two seasons.

The Blackhawks have four goalkeepers participating in the camp (Subban, Collin Delia, Kevin Lankinen and Matt Tomkins). Trainer Jeremy Colliton changed Subban, Delia and Lankinen during the training.

“I think the work ethic of all three guys was good and that gives us a good sense of the preparation they are doing to take this opportunity,” said Colliton. “We now have a situation where we talked about open competition for a place, be it the starting position or the backup when we start [the qualifier series]. “

The Blackhawks (32-30-8, .514 points percent) participate in the qualification as number 12 of the Western Conference. The Oilers (37-25-9, .585) are the No. 5 seeds. Game 1 of their best-of-5 series is August 1 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, the hub for the 12 Western teams in the NHL Return to play plan. The winner will advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the loser will have a chance to number 1 in the NHL Draft 2020 in the second phase of the NHL Draft Lottery, which takes place on August 10th.

“We shot these three guys through the first group, and we plan to continue doing so so everyone has a chance to show themselves and get a bigger picture of us,” said Colliton. “We already have a small sample size, but for the handicap [the competition] We won’t do that a few ice ages later. But I think the competition between them will be very interesting. “

Subban has the most NHL experience of the three goalkeepers; He is 30-23-7 with a 2.97 GAA and 0.899 percent savings in 66 games with the Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights and Blackhawks who bought him from the Golden Knights as a goalkeeper Robin Lehner on February 24th. Subban was 9-7-3 with a 3.17 GAA and 0.890 percent savings in 21 games (19 starts) this season.

Delia is 7-5-3 with a 3.65 GAA and 0.906 savings in 18 NHL games, all with the Blackhawks, and has not played an NHL game this season. Lankinen has no NHL experience.

Neither Subban nor Delia have played in a Stanley Cup playoff game.

Subban has been in Chicago for a while, participating in volunteer workouts with several Blackhawks players, including strikers Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome and Alex Nylander.

“He has a big chance here now and it will be a lot of fun in these playoffs,” Nylander said of Subban.

Subban said the volunteer workouts helped him get back in shape where he is now working on other parts of his game.

“For me, especially as an explosive athlete, my stamina is usually the top priority, so I try to keep my stamina under control,” he said. “We skated for three or four weeks and I thought I was busy with all the little things again. Then I climbed the ice with Jimmy (Waite, Blackhawks goalkeeper coach) and found that I still did have a lot of stuff to work with, but getting out there and trying to correct those little bad habits that are forming and just getting back into play will help everyone skate. “

The Blackhawks will travel to Edmonton on July 26 and play the St. Louis Blues in an exhibition game there three days later. And when Subban gets the call against the Oilers, he plans to be ready.

“It may be the most difficult for goalkeepers (with a shorter camp), but I think it will be difficult for everyone,” he said. “It’s not the usual routine. You just try to get in shape and skate as much as possible and do some of the scrimmages in the camp. It helps a lot too. I think it’s just about skating and back to get in shape as soon as possible. “

.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending