Crawford may be suffering from something similar to the vertigo symptoms that affected former Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell last spring and summer, according to the report.
The team hasn't changed Crawford's day-to-day status and won't confirm the nature of the ailment beyond classifying it as an upper-body injury.
The netminder hasn't played or skated since allowing five goals in a loss to the Los Angeles Kings on March 14.
TORONTO - It was only a few weeks into the season. Like other teams, the Anaheim Ducks were off to a slow start. But the pressure was already on in Southern California. There were calls for head coach Bruce Boudreau's head. After a 1-7-2 October, the Ducks went into November with only 10 goals, having been shut out five times - twice in back-to-back games.
"North of the border I was getting beat up, but that's expected. I don't go around with any illusion that I don't have things going on my shoulders. We're like anybody, we're (in) a results-based business and if you're not performing, you're going to have to take scrutiny with it and you're going to have to deal with it," Getzlaf said. "Fortunately in Anaheim we can quietly deal with what we need to deal with and it doesn't get overwhelming."
Panic
Many were quick to write off the Ducks' season. In this day and age, a slow start - or a prolonged slump - can become a death sentence when it comes to making the playoffs. The NHL's points structure ensures it's difficult to make up ground on opponents, not knowing which teams will be involved in two- or three-point games.
It's why management for most teams can escape blame for pulling the trigger on a coach after a slow start. But the Ducks showed patience still matters.
"Obviously ownership and the group showed a lot of faith in us for a long time and didn't blow things up. We had some changes at the deadline that kind of helped us," Getzlaf said. "The thing about it is if you blow it up and change things you don't quite have that same experience from earlier to build on right now because the same people didn't go through it. We went through it together and obviously stuck together through the tough time and now we've got to prepare to do things well here down the stretch."
Coaching carousel
This season's provided examples of coaching changes that have and haven't worked.
After an 0-7-0 start, the Columbus Blue Jackets fired Todd Richards and replaced him with John Tortorella - a different kind of personality. Tortorella hasn't been able to turn Columbus' fortunes around, as the team sits second-last in the East, but he'll have another opportunity to try.
In Pittsburgh, meanwhile, the Penguins have seen the results they were looking for after disposing of head coach Mike Johnston on Dec. 12. Despite a 15-10-3 record, there were signs of cracks, with Sidney Crosby off to his slowest start and on track for one of his worst seasons statistically. Columns were written questioning whether Crosby's career was in decline.
Today, with Mike Sullivan behind the bench, Crosby is third in scoring with 78 points in 74 games. He has 15 goals and 22 assists in 27 games since the All-Star break, shooting 17.9 percent.
Cup dreams
The Ducks are one of the more compelling teams heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs. They survived adversity and stuck together. When they lost their ability to score, they adjusted their style of play to remain one of the NHL's elite teams in its tougher conference.
Statistic
Ducks' Rank
Goals Per Game
21st (2.60)
Goals Against
1st (2.30)
Power Play
1st (23.30%)
Penalty Kill
1st (86.80%)
Corsi For
2nd (52.9%)
PDO
28th (98.7)
"We had a lot of meetings. We had been shut out like five out of our first 10 games where we figured if we weren't going to score we'd better find out how to win 1-0. Consequently, they bought into that and they started to win 1-0," Boudreau said. "It's about us defending and learning how to play the right way and when we do that we're having success because we're still one of the lower-scoring teams in the league."
Patience still matters. The Ducks - and Crosby - are proof.
Authorities in Illinois discovered Ross was in Michigan at the time of the alleged crime, meaning he can't be prosecuted for a felony, according to local radio host Nick Burzych.
The charge is a felony in Illinois, but only a misdemeanor in Michigan. The alleged victim could still press charges in the latter state, but the penalties would be less severe.
The Nashville Predators say they formed their trade deadline strategy around the assumption that highly touted prospect Jimmy Vesey would sign a contract with them.
"We did alter our trade deadline plans based on the information that he we had," assistant general manager Paul Fenton told Sportsnet 590 The FAN on Tuesday.
Vesey spurned the Predators on Monday night, informing Nashville he would not sign with the club and would instead opt for unrestricted free agency on Aug. 15.
General manager David Poile said Monday that Vesey repeatedly told the Predators organization that he intended to sign with them.
Fenton echoed that claim Tuesday, adding that the 22-year-old Harvard product was promised a top-nine role and a playoff roster spot with Nashville this season.
The executive said Vesey's camp gave no reason for the change of heart, other than the opportunity to test free agency.
Fenton also reiterated Poile's sentiment that the Predators haven't given up on trying to sign Vesey. The assistant GM said they will continue to pursue a meeting with the player, his family, and his advisor, an opportunity they haven't yet been granted.
Vesey notched 24 goals and 22 assists in 33 games during his senior season with the Crimson. The Predators drafted him 66th overall in 2012.
Earlier Tuesday, Columbus announced it had signed the 18-year-old to an amateur tryout contract with its American Hockey League affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters.
Werenski's deal carries a base salary of $925,000, including $92,500 signing bonus. With available bonuses of $850,000, cap hit is $1.775M.
Werenski's slated to make his professional hockey debut Friday when the Monsters take on the Chicago Wolves.
The blue-liner captained the United States to bronze at the World Junior Hockey Championship this winter. He also completed his second season at the University of Michigan, collecting 11 goals and 36 points in 36 games.
Three straight first-round playoff exits have certainly impacted perceptions of whether the St. Louis Blues are true Stanley Cup contenders.
While the club currently sits atop the Western Conference alongside the Dallas Stars with 99 points, recent playoff failures have tainted expectations among media members for the Blues come playoff time. That's all well and good, as captain David Backes sees it.
"It's fine by us," Backes told ESPN's Pierre LeBrun. "We've been on the other side of that coin, where we've been picked and disappointed. Now, maybe we get to play that underdog role, lower expectations, just come in and, whoever we play, just get our game out there.
"If we're concerned or worried about (what) the writers are saying, no offense, we've got our minds in the wrong place."
The Blues have gotten hot at the right time, going 10-2-0 in their past 12 games - a stretch Backes credits largely to the team's goaltending tandem of Brian Elliot and Jake Allen.
"The goalies have been out of this world," Backes said. "We've done a decent job in front of them, but they're making all the stops that they should be making and stealing a couple that they have really no business making. When you've got that kind of support and protection behind you, it frees you up to make a few more plays in front of them. And we're starting to see a few pucks in the net on the offensive side of things because of that."
While things are looking up for the Blues, Backes also understands they can't get ahead of themselves, especially given recent postseason failures.
Pressure is clearly on the team to advance at least a round or two, and failing to do so could spark major changes within the organization.
"Maybe if we don't get out of the first round, (we'll have) big changes," Backes said. "We need to focus on our task at hand. Somebody is going to have to make that decision once the chips have all settled and we figure out what's happened. We're hoping the situation is that we're going to have a big party and a parade, and everyone can wrap arms around each other, and everyone gets to stay put."
Werenski will join the team's American Hockey League affiliate, the Erie Monsters, where he'll get his first taste of pro hockey.
The 18-year-old captained the United States to bronze at the World Junior Hockey Championship this winter. He also completed his second season at the University of Michigan, collecting 11 goals and 36 points in 36 games.
"Since Tim Panaccio got (his) lower-body injury, we started playing better," the Flyers captain joked in the postgame scrum following a 3-2 overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.
Panaccio, a Flyers insider for CSN Philadelphia, tore several ligaments and broke two bones in his ankle when he slipped on a patch of ice in Montreal before a game against the Canadiens on Feb. 19.
“This is a very significant setback for me," Panaccio told the Montreal Gazette in late February. "I could miss the entire playoffs."
The club is 12-4-3 in the 19 games since the injury, and it now holds the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot with a game in hand on the Detroit Red Wings.
Just asked @tpanotchCSN about @28CGiroux's comments last night. He said: "The sad irony is, the G-man is absolutely correct."
Good luck doesn't come from a four-leafed clover or a rabbit's foot; it comes from Ryan Garbutt.
The Anaheim Ducks topped the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 Monday night, and in doing so improved on Garbutt's incredible winning record this season.
As Sportsnet's John Shannon notes, Garbutt - who began the season with the Chicago Blackhawks - helped the team go 12-0-0 in his final 12 games before being traded to the Ducks on Jan. 23. Since joining his new club, Garbutt has gone 22-5-3.
That means Garbutt's gone 34-5-3 in his last 42 games, a winning percentage of 80.95. To put that in perspective, the Washington Capitals lead all teams in that category at 75.3 percent.
Note to general managers: get yourself a Ryan Garbutt.
