Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville gives potential return date for Corey Crawford

Coach Joel Quenneville gave Blackhawks fans something to be optimistic about on Tuesday.

Quenneville believes goalie Corey Crawford, who has been dealing with post-concussion symptoms for more than nine months, could be return to the Hawks net next month. And to be more specific, Quenneville pointed to the Hawks’ Oct. 18 game when they host the Coyotes at the United Center.

“Optimistically looking at the calendar and looking at dates, there’s a window of four days off after that Saturday game and if all goes well, that could be a perfect scenario,” Quenneville said after the conclusion of Crawford’s second full practice with the team since February. “You never know if there’s a bump or two in the road. But we’ll anticipate after this weekend, together, seeing how he handles that, then we’ll get a better idea on picking a date.”

The news comes one day after Crawford seemed uncertain about his timetable. The 33-year-old said he wasn’t “100 percent clear” of symptoms yet and added that he was “almost there.”

Crawford is expected to travel with the team to the Hawks’ season opener on Thursday in Ottawa. Quenneville believes Crawford has continued to show progress over the last three weeks and doesn’t foresee him having any setbacks.

“He looked good, he felt good,” Quenneville said. “He’s moving quick. Saw more shots and more traffic and handled a nice workload. Good, continued progress.”

NOTE: Quenneville confirmed that goalie Cam Ward will start in net on Thursday.