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Pete, Bob Crawford have lofty goals for Springfield Jr. Blues
Written by: Derek Berry on 11/13/2000 
It's no surprise that Pete Crawford, general manager of the North American Hockey League's (NAHL) Springfield Jr. Blues is where he is and has a burning desire to win.
Just like the rest of his highly competitive family.
Pete Crawford is one of nine brothers and sisters, a good majority of whom have some type of job in hockey or sports in general.
Besides Pete, there is Bob who also is involved with Springfield and owns the Connecticut Clippers of the Metropolitan Hockey League. Bob also owns a team in Canada, and runs a hockey rink business on the east coast. Brother Louie is the head coach of St. John's, the top minor league affiliate for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Todd Crawford is a former Olympic bobsledder; Eric Crawford is the video coordinator for the Vancouver Canucks; and the head coach of the Canucks is none other than Marc Crawford, perhaps the most famous of the brothers' Crawford, who lead the Colorado Avalanche to the 1996 Stanley Cup and battled the Detroit Red Wings for several years as the Avs' leader.
Oh, and don't forget dad Floyd Crawford, who still keeps his hand in the sport as head of scouting for the Ontario Hockey League's (OHL) Belleville Bulls.
Pete attributes his success and desire to be the best at whatever he does to his family.
"I'm from a very competitive family and I'm a competitive person," says Pete, a former hockey player himself. "Many of us in the family are involved in the sport and we all want to win."
Brother Bob will tell you in jest that putting food on the table is the real reason, but mostly it's the competitive and success-driven nature of the Crawfords.
Pete and his siblings were raised in Belleville, Ontario, where everybody played hockey. Pete himself played junior hockey in Collingwood, then later for Union College, which disbanded its program in the late 1970's. He also played in the International Hockey League (IHL) for five years winning championships with the Kalamazoo K-Wings and Toledo, among others.
"I hate to lose, like everybody else," he says.
Pete firmly believes he can take this Springfield team to the top in no time. Although Pete has been involved with the Jr. Blues since 1993, he only took over as general manager just prior to the draft when they officially joined the NAHL. He runs the team with brother Bob and several others from the Springfield and Chicago areas, including Jack Rankin, former president of the Michigan National Hockey League.
"This team would have folded if we hadn't taken it over," said Pete.
"We had about three days to get kids signed and recruited."
Head Coach Craig Heggs, hired literally at draft time, won't argue about the quick pace involved in the entire process. But, Heggs believes in Pete Crawford's system even in the short time he's been with Springfield.
"Guys like Pete are true hockey people," says Heggs, a former assistant with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. "Pete and Bob have roots at every level of hockey, they know hockey, they want a positive attitude and they are very professional."
And there better be plenty of positive attitude on this year's edition of the Springfield Jr. Blues, with only five veterans returning from last season. It could make for a painful growing process. Still though, Pete Crawford expects to win.
"Everyone picked us to finish dead last in the league because we didn't get the chance to do all of that recruiting," Pete says. "But, we're thrilled with this club. We have the kind of team that's going to battle every night."
Crawford goes on to say that any team that enters the Nelson Center is in for a physical battle.
He believes the Blues should win the national title every year…even this year.
"There's no reason why we can't win it all this year," says Pete. There's certainly many variables in place that could signal an early title in this young organization. Pete believes very strongly in coach Heggs and assistant Titus Dare - formerly with the parent club, the St. Louis Blues - who's been involved in hockey for 25 years.
"Both of our coaches work very hard," says the general manager with the Glen Sather-mind set. "Craig and Titus are very in-line with our philosophy of getting the players to work hard on every shift."
Pete also has high goals for his coaches and even more importantly, his players.
"I want our coaches to succeed and move up. They, along with our entire front office staff, are outstanding," he says. "We also want the players to move up too."
In fact, Pete says the organization's goal is to move 10-12 players each year up to the college or minor league level. "We want to develop the kids, take care of them and move them on."
Does his brother agree?
"We're in a position to win every night even though we're in our first year," says Bob Crawford, who acts as a sounding board for the Jr. Blues, handling issues with the NAHL. "Are we going to? I don't know. But we will compete. Pete is a tireless worker and I have no doubt that he can be the best."
Most of all Pete wants to do it for the people of Springfield and the loyal fans that love their Jr. Blues.
"Springfield fans are very loyal, very boisterous," he says. "We've lead the league the last five years in attendance and we want to build a winner for people here."
You would have no doubt listening to Pete Crawford, knowing the hockey
family that he's from, that he will succeed.
Copyright 2000 Hockey’s Future. Do not reprint or otherwise duplicate without permission of the editorial staff.
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