Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Reasons They Should Keep Riding Crawford's Hot Hand

Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford is continuing the tradition of great goaltending in the Windy City. He has played fantastic in his true rookie season and is the leading goaltender amidst talks for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the best rookie of 2010-2011.

16 of the 72 Calder Trophy winners over the years have been goaltenders. A staggering three of those have been from the Blackhawks alone, so for Crawford to be mentioned amongst the names of Mike Karakas, Tony Esposito and Ed Belfour, it shows the kind of talent he possesses.

Let us not also forget Glenn Hall, whose number is retired by the Blackhawks for all his years of stellar goaltending—he won the Calder Trophy too, with the Detroit Red Wings.

However, the Blackhawks are also in the midst of a very tight playoff race. The way they are playing, they will almost certainly make the playoffs, the question now is where they will be seeded.

Here then is the dilemma—do they push for a jump up the standings to take possibly a No. 2 or No. 3 seed if they can vault past Detroit, or do they rest Crawford and play the shaky veteran Marty Turco and prepare for the playoffs as a lower seed?

True, the Blackhawks are currently eight points out of first in the Central Division. That means they have to win four more games than the Red Wings out of the next 12 to pass Detroit and take the division.

That being said, the Red Wings and Blackhawks play each other three more times this season—including a home-and-home to finish the season—so Chicago is in control of their own destiny.

It is a big if, but if they can win those three games, they only need win one more game than Detroit in the other nine games they each have to take first. In the case of a tie, the Blackhawks would hold the tiebreaker.

As the season winds down and the Hawks look to regain the form they had while winning eight-straight games barely a week ago, we at Bleacher Report decided to break down why the Hawks have to go for broke, ride the hot hand of Corey Crawford for these next 12 games and fight for that top spot in the Central Division.

And don’t forget about that once in a career shot at a very exclusive piece of hardware that Crawford is easily in the top two in the running for: the Calder Memorial Trophy.

5. Calder Trophy Hopes

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LAS VEGAS - JUNE 23: Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres poses with the Calder Trophy for a portrait during the 2010 NHL Awards at the Palms Casino Resort on June 23, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

I am not a believer that a team should ever consider the possibility of its players winning awards or breaking records affecting its style of play. In that fashion, the Blackhawks should not base their decision to play Corey Crawford on the fact that he leads rookie goaltenders in three of four major netminder categories.

However, this is a once in a life time opportunity that many players never even get a chance at. Rarely are there more than maybe three hopeful rookies a year for the Rookie of the Year honors, so it is certainly nothing to be trifled with.

4. Turco’s Performance This Season

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SUNRISE, FL - MARCH 8: Goaltender Marty Turco #30 of the Chicago Blackhawks stops a shot by David Booth #10 of the Florida Panthers on March 8, 2011 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers defeated the Blackhawks 3-2. (Photo by Joel A

I like Marty Turco a lot. I think he is a solid goaltender who may not have much of a shot at the Hall of Fame, but is still one of the strongest goalies of his generation. Over the course of career, he has won 273 games in 537 games played, but has also saved .910 percent of the shots he has faced and has allowed an average of 2.34 goals per game.

However, this season could very well be his last. He has allowed over three goals per game and has barely managed a .898 save percentage in 28 games played this season. With 11 wins and 11 losses, Turco is simply a coin flip that the Blackhawks cannot afford to gamble on right now.

In the past, Don Cherry has called Marty Turco the smartest goalie in the NHL, and that may still be true. At 35 years old, his body might just not be able to keep up with his mind anymore, and the Hawks don’t have any more time to find out.

3. Crawford’s Momentum

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SUNRISE, FL - MARCH 8: David Booth #10 of the Florida Panthers watches as his shot scores past goaltender Corey Crawford #5 of the Chicago Blackhawks in the first period on March 8, 2011 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerb

In games that Crawford has started after Marty Turco played at least the majority of the game beforehand, Corey Crawford is 1-1-2 since taking the starting job earlier this calendar year.

If we assume that the Blackhawks would look to give Crawford two games off, one in each of the back-to-back game nights they have,  not only is it a 50/50 shot that Turco loses that game, but also worse than a 50/50 shot that Crawford loses the game afterwards.

It also becomes a pure coin flip as to whether he loses that game in regulation netting Chicago zero points in the standings.

If worse comes to worst and he loses both of them—one in overtime—the Hawks then have to make up seven points on the Red Wings in 10 games instead of making up eight in 12. Also, if Detroit wins all but four of their last 12 games, the Blackhawks will now have no shot at taking over first place.

Sure, there is no guarantee that the Blackhawks will win if Crawford starts, but it gives them a much better chance, especially if he is the starter every night.

Also, with Detroit going 5-3-2 over their last 10 and playing all 12 of their remaining games against quality teams, the Blackhawks are in the perfect position to strike, but they need Crawford between the pipes to give them the best chance to win.

The best way to keep the Blackhawks rolling is to keep playing him each night, even if he played the night before.

2. Upcoming Schedule

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DETROIT, MI - JANUARY 22: Tomas Kopecky #82 of the Chicago Black Hawks breaks away in front of a checking Jan Mursak #39 of the Detroit Red Wings in a game on January 22, 2011 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The Hawks defeated the Wings 4-1.

The Blackhawks have a tough road ahead. On top of the three games against the Red Wings, they also play only one game against an “easy” team in Florida. That is no cakewalk either though, as they lost their last game against the Panthers 3-2.

The issue is that even if Detroit goes a flat 6-6-0 over their final twelve, the Blackhawks have to go 10-2-0, including at least two wins against Detroit to guarantee the top spot in the Central.

Also, the Blackhawks only play back-to-back nights twice for the rest of the season and if Crawford can power through those two pairs of games, it would give Chicago a huge boost on the back end.

Is this impossible to expect the Blackhawks could win 10 of their next 12? No. If it was, I would never suggest playing Crawford in order to try for it.

As next week rolls on, the situation will have to be re-evaluated, but for right now they aren’t out of the race yet and should play like they know they can take it away from their rivals in Hockeytown.

1. Potential Playoff Opponents

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VANCOUVER, CANADA - FEBRUARY 4: Alexandre Burrows #14 of the Vancouver Canucks fails to get a handle on the loose puck after goalie Marty Turco #30 of the Chicago Blackhawks made a pad save during the second period in NHL action on February 04, 2011 at Ro

If the standings hold as they are now, the Blackhawks would be the No. 6 seed against the No. 3 seeded San Jose Sharks. They just beat the Sharks 6-3, but that is the first time they have beaten San Jose all season.

The Blackhawks are only one point out of fourth right now and could take first round home ice if they jump past the Coyotes and Kings by earning a simple one point more than them over the final 12. Sure, one of those points needs to come in a strong win over Phoenix for safety’s sake to steal the tiebreaker, but it is still attainable as is the Division title and a top three seed.

However, if they slide any further down, they will draw either Detroit or Vancouver in the first round, neither of which is desirable, even though Chicago currently leads the season series against Detroit and won two of their four games against Vancouver.

However, Detroit finds ways to win games when they matter most, and despite their success in beating Vancouver in the playoffs in past years, the Vancouver is the best team in the league right now and have been so for the majority of the season.

No one wants to go up against them, and for good reason, with the likely Hart Trophy winner Daniel Sedin on their front line—and if you haven’t heard, his brother Henrik is no slouch either.

The Hawks cannot afford to mess around as the defending Stanley Cup Champions. They have the talent to win it all again and have gotten hot at the right time. However, this is the time for them to keep pushing, put it all on the line and look to jump up the standings to make the road to the Finals a little easier.

If they are worried about Crawford’s stamina now, how are they going to feel about it in May when they are in the middle of their second seven game series?

Worse yet, how are they going to feel about it if they are all watching the playoffs from home on their couches? Now is not the time for rest. Put the kid out there and let him show us what he can do.

And who knows? That Calder Memorial Trophy might come back to the Hawks for the second time in four years.