Blackhawks' Crawford Reveals He Had COVID-19

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(670 The Score) Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford on Saturday revealed that his extended absence from the team and practice was because he contracted the coronavirus.
Crawford rejoined the Blackhawks at practice Saturday and participated in part of the team's scrimmage, the Sun-Times reported. Until then, Crawford hadn't participated in practice since the Blackhawks returned for training camp on July 13, instead undergoing a lengthy quarantine.

Following NHL medical privacy protocols, the Blackhawks hadn't previously revealed any information on Crawford's health status other than to deem him "unfit" to participate in practice.

"I'm excited to be back," Crawford said, according to the Sun-Times. "I'm going to try to get into it as quick as possible."

Crawford had a 2.77 goals-against-average and .917 save percentage in 40 games this season. Without Crawford, the Blackhawks had been preparing backups Malcolm Subban, Collin Delia and Kevin Lankinen as their goaltenders.

The 12th-seeded Blackhawks open their best-of-five qualifying-round series against the fifth-seeded Oilers next Saturday. The Blackhawks are scheduled to fly to Edmonton on Sunday.