Crawford vs. Lehner is Blackhawks’ biggest competition, but it won’t be settled in camp

Mainstay goaltender Corey Crawford and flashy newcomer Robin Lehner will battle all season long for the upper hand.

Making his first public comments since the Blackhawks’ shocking and splashy July 1st signing of Vezina finalist Robin Lehner, Corey Crawford said almost all the expected bland things.

Almost.

The 34-year-old goaltender, a Hawks mainstay since 2010 — even though recurring concussions and other injuries problems have limited him to just 66 starts the last two seasons combined — called Lehner a “really good goaltender” who “just helps our team.”

Okay, Crawford gets a check there, for both cliche usage and accuracy.

Lehner is indeed really good, coming off a spectacular season with the Islanders in which he recorded a 2.13 GAA and carried the league’s No. 21-ranked offense to the playoffs.

And his addition, stunning as it was, now appears the most convincing reason for why the Hawks could return to the postseason in 2020.

But then Crawford became a little less rosy, a bit more honest in his comments.

He admitted his body “wears down a little bit easier as you get older,” and that he wasn’t able to lift as much weight this summer as he used to.

And fed a softball question about whether or not the involuntary workload management will actually help his longevity, Crawford responded bluntly: “Personally, I feel better when I play more.”

Lehner’s .930 save percentage last season appears at first to drastically best Crawford’s .908, but the latter actually graded better in high-danger scoring chance save percentage (Crawford ranked 7th in the league, Lehner 13th), suggesting Lehner’s apparent superiority may have been more a product of the Isles’ and Hawks’ contrasting defensive acumens.

Still, deep down, the veteran netminder probably does feel threatened to some extent by Lehner’s arrival — especially with both facing unrestricted free agency next summer, at which point Lehner will be 29 while Crawford will be an unnerving 35.

That’s how most any ultra-competitive athlete would feel, much less someone as driven and accomplished as Crow.

But that extra edge will likely only help the Hawks this season.

“He’s back to himself, as far as his personality and excitement to be back playing and ready for the season to begin,” general manager Stan Bowman said. “He’s in a good frame of mind, trained well, and he’s ready for a big season.”

Crawford seemingly feels a chip on his shoulder; Lehner, just months removed from being shunned by the team he helped resurrect, does too; and Collin Delia, temporarily cast back to Rockford (in all likelihood) for the start of the year but still very much in the long-term picture, might be most motivated of all.

Whose edge proves edgier than the others, and which goalie emerges as the “1A” to his opponent’s “1B,” will not be determined over the next two weeks of training camp, although the duel for the starting role in the Oct. 4 season opener will be interesting nonetheless. For what it’s worth, through the first two days of practice Friday and Saturday, neither has done anything spectacularly good or bad.

That’s been the idea for months now: keep Crawford and Lehner competing neck-and-neck all season, in a way that seeing-the-end Cam Ward couldn’t last season. Both goalies are, understandably, aware.

“I’m sure there’s going to be points where both guys are going to have hot streaks, so that’s in the hands of our coach,” Crawford said. “Jeremy [Colliton] is going to have to decide who to go with. ... Our job is to try to be at our best and push each other.”

“This year, it’s a team that wants to make the playoffs again, and we want to win, so you have to earn your starts,” Lehner added.