FEATURE: Crawford has made progress in return from concussion

It's been a long road to recovery for Corey Crawford, and his journey isn't quite done yet.
"I'm close, I'm really close," he said.

"Last year was a concussion and I'm still getting over symptoms," he said. "Most of them are gone, but I'm not cleared yet. Until that happens, I won't be back in."
Crawford couldn't quite place when he suffered the concussion but said it's something that deteriorated with time until he finally had to shut things down. He tried to make a return in February in Arizona but knew then he wasn't 100 percent.
"Things just kept getting progressively worse," he said. "It just got to a point where it was time to sit out and things never really got better. We thought to maybe try it when I went to Arizona and then we were at a point too where we were close in the standings. It just got to where it didn't seem like it was worth it when we started to slide. It was better off thinking about long-term rather than rush back."
There were some positive signs from Crawford as the Blackhawks opened Training Camp on Friday. He skated with Goaltending Coach Jimmy Waite ahead of the team's practice and was all smiles before walking in to meet the media after. Although he didn't skate with his teammates, it's still progress.

"Very promising with where he's at now," said Blackhawks SVP/General Manager Stan Bowman. "I think he talked about it. It's been a long road for him, but things are looking up."
"Right now, I am feeling pretty good," he said. "I've gotten better and better over the last couple of months and I was able to skate a few times the last two weeks. I feel good on the ice, as a goalie. Right now, I'm not ready to go yet."
Crawford has no timeline to announce.
"It's hard to say right now, but things have been progressing really well. It's really hard to put a timeline on it right now. It's nice to be on the ice and it feels like I didn't miss that much time, compared to being out this long. I was moving pretty good. Jimmy had a bunch of drills for us to do and overall on the ice, it felt great."
Crawford denied the reports of vertigo and says the mystery and silence had to do with the fact he had no real picture of how long he'd be out.
"We weren't telling injuries because we weren't really sure when I'd be back," said Crawford. "Things just kind of lingered. It was hard to really talk about it or to go through with that because I just didn't know where I was at and where I was going to be at. We just wanted to wait."
Crawford will continue to come along slowly, with the Blackhawks staff working carefully to make sure he is fully cleared before returning.
"Mike Gapski, our head trainer, has done a lot to help me out," Crawford said. "I'm getting all the treatment I need. I'm trying to get back as quick as possible. I'm close, I'm really close."

More skates like Friday's and workouts are likely to be in his immediate future.
"We're trying to ease the intensity," he said. "We're not trying to rush things. We've done a great job with that lately and that's why it's hard to put a timeline (on it), to really know when I'm going to feel 100 percent. But at the same time, the last couple of months have been a lot of progress."
It's been a frustrating number of months for Crawford but, hopefully, the end is in sight.
"This one crept up and kept getting worse," he said. "Right now, things have been better… I'm almost there, so that's the positive thing. I'm not still where I was at 8-9 months ago."
Inside the organization, both new and familiar faces were excited to see Crawford around the rink.
"I think he's progressing well, it seems like the past few weeks," said Patrick Kane. "Happy to see him out there for sure and happy he's getting better."
"I'm a new teammate of Crow," said goaltender Cam Ward, who signed with the team in free agency. "I have a lot of respect for him, playing against him over the years. Obviously, we're all concerned over his overall health. I think the most important thing is that he takes the time and gets back to being healthy. That's first and foremost. It's clear seeing him in the locker room, seeing him interact with his teammates that he's a valuable part of this organization. Hopefully, he's back sooner than later."