Blackhawks Practice: Bedard – ‘I’m Not Watching Broadcasts, I’m Playing Hockey’

The Blackhawks were back on the practice ice after last night’s overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers. This was their last practice at Fifth Third Arena for a few days due to the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. After hosting the Nashville Predators on Friday and traveling to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, the Blackhawks won’t play again until Feb. 22.

Connor Bedard Has His Say

You will be under a microscope when you’re the number one overall pick and hyped as a “generational talent” before you’re old enough to get your driver’s license. That has been the case for Connor Bedard from the second his name was announced on stage in Nashville. He gets it, and the extra attention does not bother him.

With the struggling Blackhawks on two more national broadcasts this past week, some of the league-wide pundits have chimed in on Bedard’s performance. On Saturday, ESPN’s Mark Messier suggested that Bedard needed to earn his power-play time after getting outworked by Sam Reinhart earlier in the period. As if interim head coach Anders Sorensen was going to sit his best offensive player in a one-goal game because he got beat by one of the best power forwards in the game.

Last night, the TNT crew had their turn to criticize Bedard’s “soft plays” and his “pond hockey” style.

While some of the criticism is valid, it is amped up for Bedard. You don’t hear the same things from the national pundits about Macklin Celebrini. Where was the equal time for Bedard winning a board battle in the third period to help set up the game-tying goal?

The Blackhawks young star was asked about the recent remarks from the out-of-town analysts, and his response was predictable.

“I’m not watching broadcasts or anything – I’m playing hockey,” he said. “Their job is to say what they see. I couldn’t really care less, to be honest, what people on the outside think of me or us. But of course, I’m not going to be butthurt if someone says I make a bad play. I don’t care. It’s their job to say what they feel, and I won’t take anything personally.

“I know if I messed up a play. But if I make a mistake, I know. I don’t need to watch a TNT broadcast to figure out if I made a mistake. I’m going to know.”

Bedard certainly needs to improve defensively; there is no debate about that. He’s putting in the work. There is little doubt that his 200-foot game will improve as he gets more experience, gets stronger, and has better players around him.

“He’s aware, and he’s a smart player,” Sorensen said in defense of his young star. “He knows if he makes a mistake. Even when you look at the turnovers he had, who was the first guy back? It’s him. He knows.

“For a 19-year-old to be under the microscope like he is, it’s rather remarkable how he handles everything. He came to practice today, and he was the first one on the ice, ready to go again. I give him a lot of credit for that. He puts more pressure on himself than anybody. He wants to be the best player.”

Jason Dickinson Injury Update

Midway through the second period last night, Jason Dickinson had his leg and ankle bend awkwardly underneath him as he fell to the ice. He needed assistance back to the locker room as he couldn’t put any weight on his left leg. Sorensen didn’t have an update after the game other than “it doesn’t look good.”

The outlook sounded more optimistic after practice. Sorensen said Dickinson suffered a high-ankle sprain and is getting more imaging done today. He ruled him out for the next two games and said they’ll take it from there.

Dickinson is not having the offensive production we saw last season when he scored a career-high 22 goals and 35 points. But he wasn’t given a two-year contract extension last year for what he does with the puck. He leaves a huge void that just one guy on this roster won’t fill.

“He means so much to our team,” Bedard said today. “You can learn a lot from how he plays the game in his own end. He never cheats it. He’s taught me a lot with faceoffs. He always takes the time with everyone. That’s a guy that means a lot to our team, so we’re hoping he can be back soon.”

The 29-year-old veteran is the Blackhawks’ best defensive forward. He and Ilya Mikheyev are the foundation of the team’s shutdown line. Dickinson has taken 858 faceoffs, by far the most on the team. The closest player is Bedard, with 421. As the team’s best man on the draw, 442 of his faceoffs have come in the defensive zone and 181 while shorthanded. He’s fifth among forwards in total time on ice and leads them in shorthanded time on ice. Only defenseman Alex Vlasic has played more on the penalty kill this season than Dickinson.

The Blackhawks will face a significant challenge against the Predators tomorrow night, as they are deep down the middle.