Louis Crevier is truly thrilled to be on the Blackhawks.
His happiness is evident in his expression, in his demeanor and in his words at all times. Since getting called up to the NHL roster last weekend, the 22-year-old defenseman has felt like he’s on top of the world — in the humblest, most endearing kind of way.
“It’s never a bad day when you’re up here,” Crevier said Thursday, beaming ear-to-ear.
As the Hawks struggle to shoulder the piling-up emotional weight of their many losses this season — and last season, and the season before — the injections of joy provided by stories and personalities like Crevier’s can be invaluable.
Crevier himself may or may not end up making a difference on the ice this season — he has played in only two games so far — but his mood certainly makes a difference regardless.
“He burst out in a big smile when we told him [last Sunday he would be] playing his first game,” coach Luke Richardson said. “Even [on Tuesday] when I said, ‘Maybe grab warmups just to get the feeling in the building,’ he was smiling.”
Smiles like that were ubiquitous around Fifth Third Arena back in training camp, when Connor Bedard and the legion of rookies brought all sorts of excitement into the locker room, but they’ve become harder to find lately.
Returning players from last year’s team expected at least some moderate improvement, even if they weren’t thinking playoffs, and the lack thereof has been disappointing. The Hawks enter Saturday’s game against the Blues in last place in the NHL and on pace for 56 points — three fewer than last season.
Nobody is losing faith or patience in the long-term plan, but when — unlike in a video game — you can’t simulate through the interim years, the cycle of putting in so much effort and preparation for every game and then losing most of those games is draining.
“I don’t think people understand how much it weighs on you when you lose,” veteran defenseman Seth Jones said. “We do this for a living, and guys get paid a lot of money to do this, but [when] you go home, it’s all you’re thinking about. It sucks. You come in here and, what are we, [8-16-1] this year? It’s not fun. We want to try to turn that around as quick as we can, but we understand this is a rebuild. These things take time.”
It’s amid that malaise that even secondhand joy for guys like Crevier can provide a breath of fresh air. Rockford had just lost a tough game against Manitoba last Friday when they were told he was getting called up; the congratulations for one of their most popular teammates lasted the rest of the night.
Crevier’s hockey journey is inspiring. The towering 6-8, 238-pound Canadian went undrafted in 2019, his first year eligible, before the Hawks nabbed him in the seventh round in 2020.
His NHL odds were still infinitesimal at that point, but he remembers asking, “Why not?”
He spent two more years playing junior hockey in Quebec, reaching overage status before moving on to the AHL. He logged 78 total games for Rockford this season and last, making huge strides with his strength, physicality and confidence — strides that finally put him more firmly on the Hawks’ radar. He’s one of only five guys from the 2020 seventh round who have reached the NHL so far.
“I’m just enjoying it as much as possible right now,” he said. “For sure it’s an adjustment, but [when you’re defending] a 2-on-1 against Bedard and [Lukas] Reichel, it makes you better, you know? As the days go by, I’ll figure it out and all that stuff. But I’ve got to stick to what I did well in Rockford and [do the] same here.”
