Illness keeps Corey Crawford out of Sunday's Blackhawks-Blues game

The last time Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford got sick the morning of a game in December, Crawford had to have an appendectomy and the team made a folk hero of Eric Semborski by hiring him as their emergency goaltender in Philadelphia.Crawford fell ill...

26 February 2017 Sunday 22:03
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Illness keeps Corey Crawford out of Sunday's Blackhawks-Blues game

The last time Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford got sick the morning of a game in December, Crawford had to have an appendectomy and the team made a folk hero of Eric Semborski by hiring him as their emergency goaltender in Philadelphia.

Crawford fell ill again Sunday morning, but the situation isn't as dire. He missed Sunday's game against the Blues and the Hawks were able to recall one of their goaltenders from Rockford, Lars Johansson, to serve as Scott Darling's backup. Johansson was called up under the NHL's emergency goaltender rules, meaning the Hawks did not have to make a corresponding roster move.

Coach Joel Quenneville said he did not think Crawford's illness was related to a recent outbreak of mumps that has affected at least one NHL team, the Canucks.

"I haven't heard the word mumps around here," Quenneville said.

Three seasons ago there was a mumps outbreak that affected multiple NHL teams. There has been a recent uptick in the number of people diagnosed with the virus in the last year, according to the Washington Post. One player on the Canucks, Troy Stecher, was diagnosed with the virus while four others had shown symptoms.

Quenneville also said Crawford's illness had nothing to do with his appendectomy.

Johansson served as Darling's backup when Crawford missed time in December, but he did not play in any games. Johansson, 29, has an 11-11-4 record with a 2.66 goals-against average, .907 save percentage and two shutouts in 30 games with the IceHogs.

There was some concern whether Johansson would make it to the United Center in time considering the IceHogs played in San Diego on Saturday night.

Goaltender coach Jimmy Waite took Crawford's place at the morning skate and Waite could serve as an emergency goaltender if the Hawks need him.

"We still have Jimmy in our back pocket," Quenneville said.

Defensive realignment: With Niklas Hjalmarsson out because of an upper-body injury, Quenneville reorganized his defensive pairings against the Blues. Duncan Keith skated with Trevor van Riemsdyk, Brent Seabrook was still with Michal Kempny, while Brian Campbell skated with Michal Rozsival. Sunday marked the first time Rozsival played in consecutive games for the Hawks since Jan. 13 and 15. He scored his first goal of the season Thursday against the Coyotes.

Keith hits 500: Defenseman Duncan Keith picked up the 500th point of his career when he earned the secondary assist on Patrick Kane's goal in the first period. Keith entered Sunday with 89 goals and 410 assists.

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