Blackhawks' Lankinen Ready to Take #1 Job From Fleury

While Kevin Lankinen of the Chicago Blackhawks was very pumped to hear the team acquired Marc-Andre Fleury, he wasn't going to let being star struck sit in. Lankinen is coming for the crease and ready to battle Fleury for the number one job.

Lankinen who impressed the hell out of the organization with his fine rookie season in 2020-21, is hoping to build off the great year, learn from one of the game's best and take his game to the next level. He met up with the media earlier this week and had this to say to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times:

I still want to be No. 1. That’s my goal. I like to compete. The way I see it, if you want to be the best one day, you've got to learn from the best, you've got to compete with the best, and at the end of the day, you've got to beat the best. It's a really good opportunity. He's a guy I have a lot of respect for. He's been through a lot. He's in the position where I want to be one day. Getting the chance to get to know him, learn from him, compete with him, it'll be huge.

Look for the Blackhawks to be a force in the Western Conference this season and a big part of their success will come down to their depth and talent in the crease. While Fleury is the number one, Lankinen will continue to develop and be ready to be the Blackhawks' goalie of the future.

Marc-Andre Fleury warming up for first day of training camp. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/9AcuOGUShX
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) September 23, 2021