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The Blackhawks\u2019 Connor Bedard has been up and down in his second season in the NHL.Michael Reaves\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n What if Connor Bedard isn\u2019t as good as we thought he\u2019d be, as good as the Blackhawks thought he\u2019d be and as good as the entire hockey world thought he\u2019d be?<\/p>\n Is \u2018\u2018uh-oh\u2019\u2019 considered one word or two?<\/p>\n We\u2019re asking these questions because Bedard has had a rough season, because the Hawks aren\u2019t what anyone would refer to as \u2018\u2018any good\u2019\u2019 and because he didn\u2019t make Team Canada\u2019s 4 Nations roster.<\/p>\n Mostly, we\u2019re asking because the NHL cognoscenti seem to have passed judgment on the 2024 Calder Trophy winner, and it\u2019s a harsh judgment. Earlier this month, two national TV analysts, Mark Messier and Paul Bissonnette, sharply criticized Bedard, who never had experienced the business end of a flamethrower until he reached the NHL. Remember, he was more than the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft; he was a once-in-a-generation talent. Everybody said so.<\/p>\n Now, everybody seems to be saying, \u2018\u2018Yeah, about that.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018\u2018There\u2019s so many little details to his game that he\u2019s lacking right now,\u2019\u2019 Bissonnette said on TNT. \u2018\u2018Yes, he might put up 30 to 35 goals a season .\u2009.\u2009. but they\u2019re going to continue to lose hockey games if that\u2019s how he\u2019s playing. That is pond hockey.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n It could have been worse, Hawks fans. He could have said floor hockey.<\/p>\n And there was Messier, the ABC\/ESPN analyst, sounding like somebody who had just been hit over the head with a hockey stick.<\/p>\n \u2018\u2018I\u2019m sorry, the excuses for a young player are over now,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018He has to be better than that. Sure enough, they get a power play, and who goes right onto the ice? Bedard. There\u2019s no quicker way to destroy the morale of the team than having players who don\u2019t earn their ice time.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Right. The Hawks were supposed to bench Bedard \u2014 their future, their franchise \u2014 because he hadn\u2019t been able to stop the Panthers\u2019 Sam Reinhart from scoring in front of the net. The morale of a last-place team is more important than the best player on the roster, a young player, getting more on-ice experience? There is no world in which that\u2019s true.<\/p>\n Bedard deserves criticism. He should be better than he has been. But the recent unloading of abuse felt almost coordinated, as though the powers that be in the national media had decided that Bedard was soft and entitled, was everything that was wrong with today\u2019s game. Maybe Don Cherry had called a Zoom meeting.<\/p>\n For the Hawks and their fans, the disconcerting element here is that Bedard hasn\u2019t risen above the mediocrity around him. Yes, the Hawks\u2019 talent level is low, but that shouldn\u2019t prevent him from being great more often than he has been. No doubt it\u2019s hard being a young, skilled player on a bad team. But other great players have done it in the past because their gifts couldn\u2019t be snuffed out.<\/p>\n Still, a reality check is in order for those ready to throw in the towel on the kid. He\u2019s still only 19. He already has gone through a coaching change in his brief association with the team. He had five goals in his first 28 games this season and 11 in his next 27. That\u2019s not incredible improvement, but it\u2019s improvement.<\/p>\n The talent is there. He still can do things few humans can. The power behind his wrist shot seems to involve a combustion engine.<\/p>\n But he has to be stronger on the puck. No one thought we\u2019d be having this discussion in Year 2. He was supposed to make a big leap from his rookie season, when he had 61 points in 68 games. His 49 points in 55 games this season paint a picture of someone skating in place developmentally.<\/p>\n How much of Bedard\u2019s fall from grace is based on reality and how much is simply a reflection of our modern need for immediate results? He\u2019s carrying not just the expectation of a city and a hockey team; he\u2019s carrying the expectation of a league that desperately needs him to succeed. Young stars mean momentum, and momentum means stability and profit. So, no pressure, kid.<\/p>\n Chicago seems to be the epicenter of huge expectations and hasty judgments. It didn\u2019t take long for the NFL to move on from Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick by the Bears in 2024, and decide that the Commanders\u2019 Jayden Daniels, the No. 2 pick, was actually the better quarterback.<\/p>\n But hopes are big again for Williams because he has an innovative new coach in Ben Johnson. The thing to remember is that he never lost all that talent, even in a 5-12 season.<\/p>\n And Bedard hasn\u2019t lost his, either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The disconcerting thing is that he hasn’t risen above the mediocrity around him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago-blackhawks"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/p>\n
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