Bowman: Crawford Is A 'Top Priority'
By Adam Hoge--
CHICAGO (WSCR) While the Blackhawks' Game 7 loss to Vancouver is still fresh in the minds of fans, the team is already moving on and looking to get better in the offseason.
As meetings between the front office, coaches and players began Thursday at the United Center, Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman made it clear what his No. 1 goal is in the offseason: sign Corey Crawford to a multi-year deal.
"He's a top priority for us and he's earned the right to be the No. 1 goalie for us," Bowman said.
Crawford is a restricted free agent and arbitration is an option, but both the Blackhawks and the goaltender want to work out a multi-year deal, according to Bowman.
"It's nice to know going into next year that we are going to have some stability in goal," he said. "We still have to get (Crawford) signed, but I'm very confident. He's a guy we are going to focus on right out of the gate here."
As for his team's finish this season, Bowman refused to acknowledge any embarrassment about barely making the playoffs and losing in the first round just one year after winning the Stanley Cup.
"I'm very proud of this group. The way they battled all year long, they had a lot of obstacles. I think it was a challenge. In some ways, half of our team was a new team," Bowman said.
The general manager acknowledged the team's slow start and said, "We would have liked to start better." He was proud of the way they played down the stretch, but said, "We were playing catch up."
As for next season, Bowman said there will obviously be some new faces, but it certainly won't resemble the extreme makeover he was forced to engineer last summer.
"We're not in the crunch we were a year ago ... We want to make improvements to our group," he said.
Still, he's excited for the players to have more familiarity with each other when the 2011-12 season starts next fall.
"I'm looking forward to next year and having some continuity ... I think there's a lot to look forward to," Bowman said.
Do you agree with Adam? Post your comments below.
Adam regularly covers the White Sox, Blackhawks and college sports for The Score and is the Executive Producer of Hit & Run on Sunday mornings. He was born and raised in Lincoln Park and attended St. Ignatius College Prep before going off to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned a Journalism degree. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHoge670 and read more of his blogs here.
