Connor Bedard’s addiction to hockey is well known to all of his admirers.
In a recent article, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that he occasionally leaves Blackhawks games early to see his old team, the Regina Pats of the WHL, play their next game. Bedard plays a ton of hockey in addition to watching a ton of it.
Staff members of the team often try to yank him off the ice following practice. Regardless of the reason—a Zamboni is en route, media commitments, or something else entirely, according to Kaplan—he always says, “I’m working.”
Bedard attempts to spend as much time as possible on the ice. When they’re through, he also makes an attempt to reenter. The story claims that head coach Luke Richardson and general manager Kyle Davidson have both made an effort to convince him to take a break.
“The Blackhawks have a hockey shooting range at their practice facility, which they sometimes rent out for birthday parties,” Kaplan stated. Since he spends so much time there, the crew just calls it ‘Connor’s room.’ To keep him out, Davidson joked that he would have to lock it. It was kind of entertaining until Davidson received a text one Sunday while lounging on his couch watching NFL games. Bedard was curious as to why the room was locked and whether Davidson had locked it on purpose. That unintentional mistake was duly corrected.
“… Bedard requested to go skating on one of the allotted optional days. Richardson had the equipment staff hide Bedard’s sticks in the coaches’ room because he felt that Bedard needed rest. Bedard has very specific requirements for his stick; his Sherwood has a 70 flex, and its whippiness facilitates his trademark release. Thus, Richardson remarked, “he has a decision to make.” “Does he go out there using the stick of someone else?”
Despite the team’s best efforts to keep Bedard off the ice, his hard work has paid off. Despite missing 14 games due to a broken jaw, he leads all rookies in scoring this season with 58 points. The NHL Rookie of the Year is awarded the Calder Trophy, and it would be astonishing if Bedard didn’t take home the trophy.
Kaplan claimed that when Bedard was recovering from a fractured jaw, he was ravenous. He kept asking Davidson to see the doctor in the hopes that his injury would get better.
A week following his surgery, Bedard persuaded the training team to allow him to skate. In an attempt to persuade him to play in their upcoming game against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins, he met with both Davidson and Richardson as the last stages of his recuperation approached.
Kaplan claims that they made a compromise. Before making a choice, they let him skate during the morning skate to see how he felt. But that’s wishful thinking for the upper management of the Blackhawks.
“Once we gave that green light,” Davidson stated, “there was a zero percent chance Bedard wasn’t going to play that night.”