CHICAGO — Like any other NHL goaltender, Corey Crawford has found a certain level of comfort working inside hockey's biggest pressure cooker.

But after Sunday's verbal agreement between the players association and owners tentatively ended the 113-day lockout and leaving the league with a shortened regular season, NHL teams – including the Blackhawks – are feeling the crunch not to waste any time.

Teams are expected to begin training camp this weekend once the deal is ratified, officially allowing hockey business to resume. But as several Hawks players worked out privately Monday morning at Johnny's IceHouse on the city's near west side, they had already started to think ahead, understanding with their season basically cut almost in half, time will be of the essence.