Crawford rejoins Blackhawks after positive COVID-19 test

CHICAGO -- Corey Crawford said he's healthy after missing most of training camp following a positive test for COVID-19 and that he hopes to start for the Chicago Blackhawks when they play the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

"I've had to quarantine at my place in Chicago for the last few weeks, so that was the case for my absence at camp," Crawford said. "I'm excited to be back, and I'm going to try to get into it as quick as possible and try to get game shape back."

Crawford played the first 20 minutes of the Blackhawks' scrimmage Saturday, allowing goals to defenseman Brent Seabrook and forwards Brandon Hagel and Reese Johnson, but did not play the second 20 minutes. Before the scrimmage, he faced shots from goaltending coach Jimmy Waite and assistants Sheldon Brookbank and Tomas Mitell.

"Today felt decent for my first time on the ice and I'm just going to try to build off that," Crawford said. "Doing the goalie drills, pushing around the crease, it felt great. It's just a little bit more the cardio part, the endurance in the legs. After I get a few practices, that'll be a lot better. Obviously, there's not much time, but I've never really been someone who skates a ton in the summer anyway. But I feel like it takes a few practices just to get your legs under you. It doesn't matter what you do in the gym."

Crawford had been ruled "unfit to play" by the Blackhawks since camp began July 13 and also didn't participate in voluntary workouts that began June 8.

"The last couple of weeks it was a little easier, but I still couldn't do much in case there was something wrong with my lungs or my heart, so we had to get that checked out before I started pushing in the gym more or come on the ice," Crawford said. "All that's been done, the doctors did a good job. We were safe enough about it where we didn't put anyone at risk. I'm just excited to be back on the ice and seeing pucks again."

Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said he didn't know if Crawford would start when Chicago (32-30-8, .514 points percentage), the No. 12 seed in the Western Conference, begins its best-of-5 series against Edmonton (37-25-9, .585), the No. 5 seed, on Aug. 1 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, the Western hub city.

The Blackhawks play the St. Louis Blues in an exhibition game on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHLN, NBCSCH+, FS-MW+, NHL.TV). The roster deadline for the Qualifiers was Friday.

"The challenge is to do what we can to prepare him to be ready, and we don't need to make that decision right now," Colliton said. "His first day back, the biggest thing is feeling the puck and getting comfortable and getting his game legs back. I'm not going to critique things on Day One here, but we don't have a lot of time. We have some urgency, but he knows that, and he's been through it before, as far as trying to come back off an injury and get right in. We'll keep going on that process."

Crawford, who won the Stanley Cup as the starter for Chicago in 2013 and 2015, was 16-20-3 with a 2.77 goals-against average, a .917 save percentage and one shutout in 40 games (39 starts) this season. After Robin Lehner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on Feb. 24, Crawford started the final eight games before the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

During his absence from camp, the Blackhawks worked with goalies Malcolm Subban, Collin Delia, Kevin Lankinen and Matt Tomkins, none of whom started a game for Chicago this season.

Subban, who was acquired in the trade of Lehner, was 9-7-3 with a 3.17 GAA and .890 save percentage in 21 games (19 starts) for the Golden Knights this season. Delia last played with the Blackhawks in 2018-19, when he was 6-4-3 with a 3.61 GAA and .908 save percentage.

Lankinen (8-10-2, 3.03 GAA, .909 save percentage) and Tomkins (5-7-1, 3.12 GAA, .896 save percentage) were Delia's backups with Rockford of the American Hockey League this season.

Colliton, asked what he needs to see to know Crawford can start Game 1, said, "We'll know it when we see it. [Waite] works closely with the goaltenders and we're preparing all of them for the challenge of playing. We'll see how things look once we get closer. When you have time, you should use it, so that's what we're going to do. We'll allow things to play out."