Corey Crawford Jersey Card

In the past few years, one goalie has usually dominated the entire NHL season to the extent where they overshadow the rest (Sergei Bobrovsky last year, Braden Holtby in 2015-16, Carey Price in 2014-15), with Devan Dubnyk usually pulling the short end of the stick; only Bobrovsky has been able to replicate such high-level performances onto multiple seasons, although a case can also be made for Holtby last year.

This year, the goalie towering over everybody else is Corey Crawford.

I mean, it's no surprise, really; Patrick Kane said he deserved the Conn Smythe more than he did himself when the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2012-13 after posting a 16-7 record with a 1.84 GAA and .932 save percentage, but the fact is that "Crow" was just as good when the Hawks won again in 2014-15 on the superhuman play of Duncan Keith with a 13-6 record (he had trouble against the Nashville Predators in the first round, which didn't stop his overall statistics line falling at 2.31 and .924).

And he's been just as good and steady in the regular season, too, with two Jennings Trophies in the past five years and a fifth-place Vezina finish in 2015-16 when he posted a league-leading 7 shutouts (in just 58 games).

This year, he stands second in the NHL for save percentage, and he missed three games to injury earlier in the season, where the Hawks lost all three games; upon his return, they won five in a row. Talk of Hart Trophy nominations should not be off the table for Crawford, especially if the Hawks sneak into the playoffs on his strong play.

They'll need Anton Forsberg to hold down the fort while Crow's injured, though.

Here he is wearing the Blackhawks' white (away) uniform, on card #AS-20 from Upper Deck's 2015-16 SP Game-Used Editions set and All-Star Skills Fabrics sub-set:

It features a decent-sized red swatch that is either from one of the horizontal lines or the team's red jersey.

Corey Crawford: 4 Autographed Cards

Let me start by saying I was very disappointed to see Corey Crawford not be nominated for the Calder trophy, as he put up elite-goalie statistics in his very first NHL season for a depleted Chicago Blackhawks team he nearly took to the second round  after casting former Olympian Marty Turco to the sidelines. I might even have nominated him for the Vezina instead of Pekka Rinne (although Tim Thomas is pretty much a shoe-in to win it).

''Crow'', as he is often called by teammates, had a longer-than-expected road to the NHL, considering how dominant he'd been at all levels: a 17-3-1 record and 1.92 GAA in Midget AAA leading to four exemplary Junior seasons in the QMJHL for the Moncton Wildcats where, apart from the first year, he always accumulated twice as many wins as losses, a GAA in the twos and a save percentage above .915 - including an incredible 2003-04 playoff run where he went 13-6, 2.15 and .940, showing the Hawks some promise after they'd made him the 52nd overall pick in the 2003 draft.

He holds quite a few Moncton records: best GAA (2.47 in 2004-05), most wins (35, in 2003-04), and most shutouts (6, 2004-05). He was twice named to the Q's second All-Star team (2004 and 2005).

With Nikolai Khabibulin and then Cristobal Huet with the parent club, Crawford was relegated to the AHL for his apprenticeship. His first stop was with the Norfolk Admirals, as evidenced by these 3 cards from In The Game:

The one on the left is from the 2005-06 Heroes And Prospects set (card #236); the one in the middle is from  the 2006-07 Heroes And Prospects set (card #72); and the one on the right is from the 2006-07 Between The Pipes set, the Future Stars sub-set (card #9).

When the Hawks changed their AHL affiliation to the Rockford Ice Hogs, Crow got to match his Hawks' jersey design with a logo reminiscent of the Iowa Chops - a superb combination, as can be attested by this 2007-08 Between The Pipes card (#8, the Future Stars sub-set):

I sent Mr. Crawford these 4 cards with a fan letter on March 29th and got them back on May 9th, all signed in black sharpie, all personalized ''À Sébastian'', in French, with his jersey number (29) added. It made my day, to say the least.