Corey Crawford cherishes ultimate Wildcats’ honour

A little more than 30 minutes into a fascinating walk down memory lane Friday, the emotions of the moment started to bubble for Corey Crawford when discussing his lengthy goaltending career that started to soar during four years of excellence with the Moncton Wildcats.

“My family…..”, he said, before pausing as he choked back tears during a press conference prior to his jersey retirement ceremony by the Wildcats Friday evening,“... they’re the reason I played.”

From getting the okay from his father Trevor, a former UPEI Panthers star, to become a goalie, to blocking shots from his brother and friends growing up in Montreal to starring in Moncton from 2001-05, to winning two Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks, Crawford loved every moment of his exceptional career in the crease.

His Wildcats’ No. 29 jersey, the one he wore while playing the games and most minutes of any goaltender in franchise history and also backstopping the team to its initial trip to the President’s Cup final in 2004, is the first one ever retired by the team.

On Friday morning, with his wife Kristy and three children on hand at the Avenir Centre, the 38-yearold detailed life in Moncton, a new city he didn’t know much about when he arrived but served as his only major junior home. It was part of a lengthy press conference that touched on his best memories of life in the QMJHL, advice for aspiring goalies and even his thoughts on current Blackhawks sensation Connor Bedard.

“I never really thought about it growing up, I just wanted to play hockey,” he said of any jersey retirement.“You think about all the people that helped out and were there for me.”

Moncton selected Crawford with its first pick (14th overall) in the 2001 QMJHL draft and after a rookie year of development and establishing his skills, he anchored the Cats goal, playing almost 13,000 minutes in 231 playoff and regular season appearances with a tidy 2.77 goals against average and a razor sharp .915 save percentage.

One of the many highlights happened during the team’s run to the ‘04 league final against Gatineau, a stretch that included a memorable 4-1 semifinal series victory over the Sidney Crosby-led Rimouski Oceanic when Crawford dazzled - making 85 saves in the final two games to produce 3-1 and 2-1 victories.

“That run in 2004 was a lot of fun,” he said. “No one really gave us credit against Rimouski and Crosby and I think that was great to go past them.”

He later added that the pressure-packed contest against the top players, such as Crosby, particularly stood out.

“As far as players, playing against Crosby, those are the fun games, the games where you play against the best players. Those are the games I enjoyed the most.”

He is enjoying retirement, after an NHL career that saw him win the Cup in 2013 and 2015 and while he likes coaching his children on the ice, he is not thinking about any professional coaching roles.

After a career played exclusively at the Moncton Coliseum, he was impressed with the new Avenir Centre home for the Cats.

“It is not really a surprise,” he said of the impact made by team president Robert Irving on the new arena. “Robert, even at the Coliseum, our facility, our dressing room, gym and everything was great for what we could do there and on top of that, everything else that he did for us was the best that could be done to make us the best players we could be.”

He talked about always focusing on the next save, as advice to young goaltenders, and that his main goal was enjoying the game he loves, without any thoughts about post-career accolades such as the jersey retirement.

He saluted his billet families, his coaches, teammates, fans, friends he trained with in the off season and everyone that helped him achieve his goals.

“As far as players, playing against Sidney Crosby, those are the fun games, the games where you play against the best players. Those are the games I enjoyed the most.”

The moment was still taking some time to get accustomed to, he admitted.

“I was working hard just to play hockey for a living, to play in the NHL and to have something like this happen, I wasn’t really thinking about it as my career was going on,” he said. “I was just trying to make the next level to pro hockey, get to the NHL. Even in junior hockey, I was just trying to get better every year and get drafted.

When you get to this point, it is kind of surreal to have an event like this. To have your jersey raised to the rafters, it is unbelievable.”

He was Chicago’s second round pick, 52nd overall in 2003 and following five seasons mostly in the AHL, made the jump to the NHL full time in 2010-11. He made 488 big-league appearances, won 260 regular-season games and posted a .913 save percentage and 2.45 goals against average for the Blackhawks.

He added 52 more playoff wins, including a combined 29 in 2013 and 2015 when he anchored the crease for a pair of Hawks’ Cup victories.

Additionally, he will be part of the Rockford IceHogs inaugural Ring of Honour, and his AHL career will be celebrated Feb. 10 in Rockford.