Frustration can get the better of even cool players like Connor Bedard. The 19-year-old received an unsportsmanlike misconduct penalty after he kicked away the stick of his opponent, Ilya Lyubushkin in his team’s 3-1 loss against the Dallas Stars.
The incident took place in the second period with the Hawks trailing 2-0. Bedard would try and make a move forward toward the Stars’ goal but found the defense blocking his path.
After Lyubushkin blocked off Bedard, the Stars man ended up dropping his stick. As soon as he bent down to retrieve his stick, a frustrated Bedard would end up kicking the stick away leading to a two-minute penalty.
Check out the video regarding this incident below:
Connor Bedard received a penalty for kicking an opponent's stick 👀 pic.twitter.com/HXsabNMH81
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 8, 2024
This conduct by Bedard left several fans shocked on social media. This development also comes just a day after he received praise for his conduct in the game against the Detroit Red Wings.
During that match, the youngster accidentally ended up high-sticking Moritz Seider. Instead of continuing with the play, Bedard would stop and check on his opponent to make sure he was okay. The two athletes would share a quick word and continue on with the game without any unnecessary fight.
Bedard and the Hawks ended up losing that game 4-1 and have now suffered a 3-1 loss against the Stars. These two heavy defeats have damaged their season record to 5-9-1 for the season.
Connor Bedard criticizes himself for poor performance in critical area
Since making his debut in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, Connor Bedard has continued to impress several people. In his debut season, the youngster picked up 61 points (22 goals and 39 assists). This saw him win the Calder Trophy for the 2023-24 season. However, this season he has not been impressed with his performance in one critical area.
Through the first month of the season, Bedard has managed to collect 12 points (3 goals and 9 assists). His point production is not what is bugging him. It’s his performance at the face-off dots.
Bedard is unpleased with the way he has performed at the face-offs and how he ends up losing the puck most of the time. Reacting to this, he called his performance this season at face-off dot “average“.
It’s either average or it’s really bad. [It’s about] consistency and finding different ways to win them. Last year, I really only did one thing, and you’re not going to win many draws like that. I’m trying to find a couple new ways to win, but I’ve got to obviously be better.
Connor Bedard said as per Chicago Sun-Times
While winning or losing a face-off may not affect many NHLers at the end of the day, it certainly does to Bedard. The youngster in the first 14 games of the season only has a 30 percent face-off. As for the whole Blackhawks team, they are ranked 27th in this stat with a 44.6 percent success.
