Registering The Case for Crow – Revisited

From one of the first posts to feature hockey related writing, how did Marcus Crawfords Season go?

Taken via Twitter

ECHL All-Star. Full jersey tuck. Steady on his skates. An eagle-eye for a stretch pass. A cool poise under pressure. He enjoys making his presence known. Unflappable yet just young enough to make mistakes and mature enough to correct them. 

This is Marcus Crawford. 

At the time of that post, he collected 8 points from his last 5 games played, adding +16 in the same period for his last 10GP.

He was projected to reach 64 points in his maiden season and ended up with 57 in 54 regular season games.

Devils Legend Andrew ‘Marv’ Hotham notched 51 in 52 in his first season, where as future legend, Gleason Fournier, had 37 from 52.

The average by legends night, for top scoring defensemen was 61.7 pts – the others had up to 4 seasons to make that. Crow, is due for his second. (Update; He is now confirmed for his 2nd season).

It was stated he should have been included as Devils Defenceman of the Year – this was achieved, as he clearly delivered from his time in the OHL and the Coast, to the EIHL. 

The previous season had so much energy was wasted on a false, often misguided belief that the best defensemen the Devils have had, was a player who couldn’t skate and failed to protect the puck.

He ate way too many minutes on the ice, even failed to move the puck properly past the blue lines on the power play. 

His hockey sense surely should have been questioned, as what D-Man, fails to bank a pass to an open lineman, instead, failing to stick handle against two quicker forwards, you guessed it, creating another turnover?

Not Crow. If he sees the easy pass, he will make it, or at least to attempt a stretch pass to create a breakout play. Not to mention, he scores and kept the points rolling all season.

At the time of posting, he had put up 32 points by the end of December, bested only by 1 point on his team at the time, by Trevor Cox. 

He was league leader for D-Men at the time and remained so until the end of the season, in the top 10 for regular season points scored. 

He had definitely proven that his ceiling was high and has all the hallmarks to be the next Hotham or Fournier in terms of production.

He just needs a stay at home linemate that won’t create turnovers or cough up giveaways as much as his last partner, who is now with Coventry Blaze. 

The big question was asked, which was can we keep him? 

My sources stated that there was a strong possibility, with a reveal at this years Calgary-Based Devils Summit with the Ownership, if all goes to plan and in the correct time zones (Update; Revealed during the other reveal).

A career high goal scoring season, was achieved with Cardiff Devils DMOTY

EIHL First All-Star Team recognition

EIHL DMOTY

EIHL Most Assists and Points for a D-Man and a Bronze Medal in the IIHF Continental Cup and finally, Playoff Finalist to boot. 

You can say, his season went very well.

With lots of room to improve with a coach that will drive the culture, demands and accountability from the outset. Only more to come from an impressive young D-Man. 

Picture Credits; HockeySteve8719 via Twitter and James Assinder