Can Corey Crawford (aka Fitty) have a rookie season reminiscent of Antti Niemi?
A lot of people tend to forget this, but it was basically a split decision at the beginning of last season on whether Crawford or Niemi would back up Huet. The prevailing thought was that the Hawks chose Niemi simply because he was on a one year deal and Crawford was on a two year, meaning he could accept a demotion and not stomp off the following summer out of frustration. So there was a point in time when the Hawks clearly thought as much of Crawford as they did Niemi, and based on the placing of Niemi on his bike, you could argue that opinion hasn’t changed too much. The Hawks have been waiting for Crawford for a long while now. He’s been the starter with the “A” affiliate for four years. His numbers there aren’t exactly jaw-dropping, but the Hawks haven’t been loaded with defensive prospects either, as most of them were either in junior or with the big club (and based off what I saw of Shawn Lalonde at the Leafs rookie tourney, the Hogs aren’t getting a lot of help just yet either)
