What were you doing on Jan. 22, 2006? Because what Corey Crawford was doing was playing in his first ever NHL game.
It wasn’t anything special. The then-21-year-old goalie came into the game at the end of the second period, taking over for Adam Munroe, who had given up three goals on 15 shots. The Blackhawks were trailing the Wild 3-0 when he came in; they rallied to score two goals in the final frame, but ultimately fell short. Crawford faced seven shots, and stopped all of them.
He didn’t get the win or the loss. All he did was play 21:27, and wasn’t really a factor either way. It was hardly memorable, hardly a statement.
Who knew that 10 years later, that debut would lead to two Stanley Cups and two Jennings Trophies?
Crawford spent the majority of his 2005-06 season in the AHL with the Norfolk Admirals, posting a .898 save percentage in his first professional year. He played one other NHL game that season: his first start, a 6-5 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues, in which he gave up five goals on 34 shots.
It took another few years for Crawford to officially make the NHL. He became a regular in the 2010-11 season, five years after his nondescript debut. But it’s all the little things that add up into a career – and remember, 10 years ago today, Corey Crawford got his start.