He has now been told by two coaches to shoot the puck more, but for some reason, it just doesn't click with him when he dresses.

How many chances should he get??

And if you watch his game, teammates hit him with good passes, and they keep bouncing off of his stick. And how many times do we need to see him try to stick handle through two defenders, and lose the puck??

When I watch him, I see mostly a turnover machine. When does all of this supposed talent start to actually show up in games??
- dahawks8819

As far as the bolded, we won’t know until he’s given an opportunity to play with better players more consistently. Maybe he doesn’t pan out, give him the second half of the season to find out.

Okay Chunk, you’re up so far…

Bedard is the least of the Hawks’ problems. I’m not happy with some aspects of his game but most are the same deficiencies Kane had. A few guys who can actually put a puck on his stick when he’s moving would be nice. And a few guys who are ready when he passes a no look pass that few in the league are capable of.
- paulr

It would be nice if guys would just keep up with him. So I don’t have to watch 1 on 3. I did notice teams are not letting him pull up in the ozone take a look around with the puck/wait for his linemates. Similar to what teams did to Kane. Absolutely no space in the ozone. Smother him and make the rest of his line be them.

Was listening to WSCR and Haugh mentioned he went to the WC at Wrigley. Was with his boy and his bud so he went to get three 24 ounce beers in the plastic hockey stick mug.

One Hundred Sixteen Bucks for the 3 beers!!!
- Mr Ricochet

With or without tip?

Hall
Jones
Foligno
Richardinson
Brodie
Mikhayev
AA (buried)
- LAHawk

The Hawks took over the deal but they aren't the ones that inked it. Same with Mikheyev.

From what I have been told, he was NOT happy about not getting the "C" after Toews left. He feels he had seniority, and he was entitled to it.

And when they rightfully gave it to Foligno, that also did not sit well.

He has usually been the last one on the ice for practices, and one of the first one off the ice when they end. Does that sound to you like someone that wants to be here??

And he is still being very selective on the teams he will waive his NTC to. I have not heard the list, but he is handcuffing them for future trade talks.

To be honest, if I were KFC, I would strip him of the "A", and send him home until I could work out a trade. And there would not be too many in that locker room that would miss him.
- dahawks8819

I also read he's the first out of the locker room after a game. Jibes with his no show with the press after the Winter Classic.

I believe he has roots/family in Dallas and Denver so the Stars and Avs could be on his wish list.

The Hawks took over the deal but they aren't the ones that inked it. Same with Mikheyev.
- HawkintheD

They accepted them in trades primarily in order to get to the cap floor. The Hawks weren’t forced to trade for them.

What a tilt in Montreal, love it.

What a tilt in Montreal, love it.
- Angotti

Can’t wait for the Hawks to be competitive in meaningful games again.

What a tilt in Montreal, love it.
- Angotti

Agree. Love these Canadian match ups. Going into OT.

Was happy to run across this. Roenick I guess has a podcast with another guy, Peel, and JR talked about the Winter Classic and how all the players from both teams came up to him, Chelios and Savard and acknowledged them except for one player. Bedard!!!

JR is a lil sad Bedard didn't bend the knee but they go on to talk about Bedard and his "game". The other dude ain't digging Bedard as a hockey player. Thinks the NHL and media pumped the kid up and he just ain't near that player.

Fun listen. Start it at 3:50. https://www.eliteprospect...try-draft/2023?position=g
- Mr Ricochet

Just listened to the podcast. Maybe Bedard was preoccupied tending to Faulkner's media to-do list, and didn't have time to stroke JR's ego and sniff the jocks of a couple of has beens.

I miss the Colliton era; 3 or 4 goals a night, Kane setting up D-Cat, Hagel working his tail off and magic Gus skating in circles.

Okay Chunk, you’re up so far…
- Angotti

I’ll chalk it up to good timing, but he’s still playing really well.

It would be nice if guys would just keep up with him. So I don’t have to watch 1 on 3. I did notice teams are not letting him pull up in the ozone take a look around with the puck/wait for his linemates. Similar to what teams did to Kane. Absolutely no space in the ozone. Smother him and make the rest of his line be them.
- bhawks2241

Been reading this for awhile now. The whole nobody can keep up with Bedard so he has to enter the Ozone all alone..

Let me ask, how many times have you seen a 31 yr old 2nd pairing Dman catch Bedard from behind in open ice? Enough times anyone reading remembers........ Bedard is not fast man. I don't even think fanboys think he's fast anymore.

The reason he enters first, or has to wait up, is cuz he has a 50 ft head start cuz he's flying the zone!! Not a man who ever breathed could catch up to the phenom cuz he has a 50 or 75 ft head start in a 100 ft race.......

Can we please drop the nobody can keep up with Bedard please??

Just listened to the podcast. Maybe Bedard was preoccupied tending to Faulkner's media to-do list, and didn't have time to stroke JR's ego and sniff the jocks of a couple of has beens.

I miss the Colliton era; 3 or 4 goals a night, Kane setting up D-Cat, Hagel working his tail off and magic Gus skating in circles.
- Dieselhead

Yea, I wondered the same thing after I first heard part of the clip on the Score. Haugh mentioned maybe the kid was in his pregame regiment and didn't want to deviate, which is fair.

But, tracking down the whole JR interview this happened on the ice pregame. JR, Chelios and Savard were standing in the bench watching pregame and the players came up to say congrats.

But my takeaway from the clip was JR is, was and always will be a goof. If he had Bedard's interest at heart he would have talked to the kid away from cameras or told Foligno about it so he could talk to the kid....... I do think Roenick expects people to greet him with bended knee and only said what he did about Bedard to get himself in the news. ..... If you wanna know how good/great Roenick is, just ask him. He'll take an hour out of his day to tell a fan how great he is, you know cuz he loves the fans!!! Dude could flat out play and played the kinda game I love but I'm first in the line of this dude is pathetic in a hundred ways.

I loved what followed in the pod, by Tim Peel, especially. "So called superstar", "plays no defense", "pumped up by the media and NHL and the kid ain't close to any of the hype", gimme Celebrini you can have Bedard". ......... So far he's dead on. Time will tell but a lotta empty calories in his points and unprecedented more or less as a defensive liability so far.

I say get JT Miller in and let him "teach" the boy. If not, throw him at wing where he belongs and hope he outscores his putrid game outside the Ozone.

Agree. Love these Canadian match ups. Going into OT.
- boilermaker100

Did anyone catch why Petey was a scratch?

With or without tip?
- boilermaker100

Haugh mentioned that there was a tip jar but he passed after coughing 136 bucks for 3 24 ounce beers AND that the prices were not shown just beers available.

BM, this is why for 15 yrs I've been posting on the internets about Steel games. Go see Cooley, Buium, Matthews, Caufield, Zegras and the NTDP at the Steel for 10 bucks a ticket, zero dollars to park, 2 dollar beers, skate with the Steel for free after Saturday games and see players who will be making 15 mil a yr 7-8 yrs from now at 17-18-19 yr olds.

Terrible it costs a family of four 6-700 bucks to see an NHL game.

3-3-2-3-3

Did anyone catch why Petey was a scratch?
- Mr Ricochet

He’s on IR.

They accepted them in trades primarily in order to get to the cap floor. The Hawks weren’t forced to trade for them.
- LAHawk

Get to the Cap floor and accumulate draft picks but you seem to keep implying the current regime is just throwing mad money at guys to get to the Cap floor and handing out bad contracts. Pretty sure I’m not reading that wrong.

Interesting assessment of KK from Dean (from Pope at the SunTimes):

Assessing Korchinski
Dean’s analysis of young Kevin Korchinski’s nine-game NHL stint in December mirrored the external view of it. He thought Korchinski started extremely well and then regressed somewhat but was overall still much-improved compared to last season.

“He was terrific in New York in his first game [on Dec. 9],” Dean said. “I was like, ‘Wow, his stick is so much stronger. He’s so much more assertive.’ He played well for a few games after that, but he did tail off a little bit, which every young player does. But I still thought he was stronger. You can see he’s physically stronger in battles, his stick was stronger and he was more assertive.

“Hopefully the next time he comes up, [his good play] stays for longer. I do think it’s a mental thing. At some point, he’ll have it, where he gets over that hump and the inconsistencies round out and he just plays the same way every night.”

One key point Dean has emphasized to Korchinski is that when he ventures outside the hash marks in the defensive zone, he needs to kill plays decisively rather than halfheartedly “pretending” to do so.

"[Kevin] just kind of waves [his stick] and thinks the guy is just going to give him the puck or dump it in,” Dean added. “When he doesn’t dump it in, now Kevin is on the boards and they’ve got speed in the middle, and he’s chasing it.”

Get to the Cap floor and accumulate draft picks but you seem to keep implying the current regime is just throwing mad money at guys to get to the Cap floor and handing out bad contracts. Pretty sure I’m not reading that wrong.
- HawkintheD

The money given to D!ckinson, Foligno and Brodie is higher than it would be anywhere else. Maroon is this year's Corey Perry. He's just less of a wiener. Smith is an extra.

KD has stressed he wants a team that is "relentless" and always attacking and he goes out and signs some of the slowest guys in the league.

I don't think all of his signings were bad or overpriced, but the moves to fill out the bottom of the roster were nonsense to me.

Get to the Cap floor and accumulate draft picks but you seem to keep implying the current regime is just throwing mad money at guys to get to the Cap floor and handing out bad contracts. Pretty sure I’m not reading that wrong.
- HawkintheD

The comment was about the Hawks having 1 (only Jones) contract. I was making no distinction about whether the contract was a free agent signing, acquired through trade, etc. I didn't see the comment that the Hawks have one bad contract pre KD era that was a sign or trade.

So I am to believe the Hawks have zero players that are overpaid. Got it.

Interesting assessment of KK from Dean (from Pope at the SunTimes):

Assessing Korchinski
Dean’s analysis of young Kevin Korchinski’s nine-game NHL stint in December mirrored the external view of it. He thought Korchinski started extremely well and then regressed somewhat but was overall still much-improved compared to last season.

“He was terrific in New York in his first game
- Chunk[on Dec. 9],” Dean said. “I was like, ‘Wow, his stick is so much stronger. He’s so much more assertive.’ He played well for a few games after that, but he did tail off a little bit, which every young player does. But I still thought he was stronger. You can see he’s physically stronger in battles, his stick was stronger and he was more assertive.

“Hopefully the next time he comes up, [his good play] stays for longer. I do think it’s a mental thing. At some point, he’ll have it, where he gets over that hump and the inconsistencies round out and he just plays the same way every night.”

One key point Dean has emphasized to Korchinski is that when he ventures outside the hash marks in the defensive zone, he needs to kill plays decisively rather than halfheartedly “pretending” to do so.

"[Kevin] just kind of waves [his stick] and thinks the guy is just going to give him the puck or dump it in,” Dean added. “When he doesn’t dump it in, now Kevin is on the boards and they’ve got speed in the middle, and he’s chasing it.”

Saw that in The Sun Times this morning. The Athletic had some decent blurbs too.

1. Tyler Bertuzzi’s offensive surge

Bertuzzi’s offensive game can run really hot or really cold. The Blackhawks knew that when signing him to a four-year deal this offseason. Their hope was he’d start the season off hot and get him and the team on the right track. That didn’t happen. He scored five goals in his first 27 games. But since Dec. 9, Sorensen’s second game as coach, Bertuzzi has discovered that offensive groove again.

He has scored nine goals in the last 13 games and seems to be developing a real rapport with Connor Bedard, who keeps setting him up in the goal mouth for backdoor tap-ins. Now with 14 goals through 40 games this season, Bertuzzi’s production looks a lot like what the Blackhawks thought they were paying for.

3. Louis Crevier

The Blackhawks have an abundance of young defensemen they like for the future. The 23-year-old Crevier doesn’t usually get included with that group. But as of late, Crevier has shown more and more signs he might just be a solid NHLer.

During his latest stretch of games, which have come mostly during a tough time for the team, he’s been a bright spot. In his last four games, he’s had a 57.67 expected-goals percentage and the Blackhawks have been outscored just 3-2 with him on the ice in five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. The coaches’ trust in him has also noticeably grown. He’s played 19-plus minutes in his last two games.

Been reading this for awhile now. The whole nobody can keep up with Bedard so he has to enter the Ozone all alone..

Let me ask, how many times have you seen a 31 yr old 2nd pairing Dman catch Bedard from behind in open ice? Enough times anyone reading remembers........ Bedard is not fast man. I don't even think fanboys think he's fast anymore.

The reason he enters first, or has to wait up, is cuz he has a 50 ft head start cuz he's flying the zone!! Not a man who ever breathed could catch up to the phenom cuz he has a 50 or 75 ft head start in a 100 ft race.......

Can we please drop the nobody can keep up with Bedard please??
- Mr Ricochet

Ugh that has been in the back of my mind. Been ignoring it and want to continue to do so. Even his short area burst aren't anything to write home about. I never saw anything negative about his skating. DCat vastly improved his skating and explosiveness when he was on the Hawks.

Have to assume Bedard's been seeing a skating coach since he was a young teenager though...

The comment was about the Hawks having 1 (only Jones) contract. I was making no distinction about whether the contract was a free agent signing, acquired through trade, etc. I didn't see the comment that the Hawks have one bad contract pre KD era that was a sign or trade.

So I am to believe the Hawks have zero players that are overpaid. Got it.
- LAHawk

Personally i believe they are in a great position regarding the salary cap even if you can't get over the over pay for players.

2 players off the books this year which will give the team $10 million to spend on a premium forward. FA, trade something will happen before next season starts.

Bedard will get a nice contract the following summer since he's really the only player performing offensively for this team.

Since the prospects are taking their time in developing i don't see any major contract going out to any of the other kids yet.

The following season they will have $20 million to spend, i imagine another premium forward will be signed, trade or both, Connor will probably get half that $20 mil

I forgot about AAs $4 mil coming off the books as well this year, McCabes $2 mil, Bailey's $1 mil