CRAWFORD BECOMES 14TH ROCKFORD RECALL THIS SEASON

Skille reassigned to Rockford

Chicago, Ill.- Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon announced today that the Blackhawks have recalled goaltender Corey Crawford from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL and have assigned forward Jack Skille to Rockford.

Crawford was recalled after goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin suffered a sprained knee in last night’s 7-2 win at Columbus. Crawford has appeared in 44 games at Rockford with a record of 24-13-5 with 2 shutouts, a goals against average of 2.72, and a .911 save percentage. Crawford currently is tied for the AHL lead in wins (24) and leads the circuit with 1,151 saves. He is also second in minutes played with 2,470.

Crawford has appeared in two career NHL games for the Blackhawks both in the 2005-06 season. He made his NHL debut on Jan. 22, 2006 coming in to relieve starting goaltender Adam Munro versus Minnesota and not allowing a goal in just under 22 minutes. He made his only NHL start at St. Louis on Feb. 2, 2006 in a game the Blackhawks lost 6-5 in a shootout.

Crawford was the Blackhawks’ 2nd round pick (52nd overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. The 24 year-old goaltender stands at 6-2 and weighs in at 190 pounds.

Skille was recalled by the Blackhawks on Jan. 28th and had appeared in 3 games and did not score. This season with the Blackhawks, Skille has played in 16 games scoring 3 goals and 5 points. He played in his first career NHL game on Dec. 30th versus Los Angeles and scored his first career NHL goal on Jan. 8th at Montreal.

Skille, 20, was the Blackhawks 1st round pick (7th overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. The Madison, Wis. native leads all IceHogs rookies in scoring with 8 goals and 18 points in 35 games this season.

Next Home Game: Friday, Feb. 15 vs. Quad City Flames. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. Rockford looks for revenge against the Flames who held on to a quick start on Sunday to topple the IceHogs 4-3. The first 1,500 girls to the game on Friday will pick up a pink IceHogs T-shirt in spirit of Valentine's Day courtesy of Rock River Valley Blood Bank, Midwest Stitch, Hulsebus Chiropractic, Guerilla Graffix, General Mills and B103. The game is the third at the MetroCentre between the West Division foes and the first 500 kids to the contest 12 and under will pick up a Walking With Dinosaurs lapel pin courtesy of the IceHogs and the MetroCentre.