The Blackhawks returned to the practice ice on Thursday, although much of the focus was on matters away from the ice.
The majority of the attention circled back to comments made in the last week from a pair of former NHL players sitting on intermission panels during national broadcasts. Now, Mark Messier’s suggestion from last weekend was so absurd it’s not worth acknowledging here. As for what was said during the second intermission of Wednesday’s national broadcast on TNT … let’s get this part in bold so it’s crystal clear to everyone:
The issue is not about mistakes that Bedard made during the game. The issue is conflating the mistakes Bedard made during the game as being part of the the reason why the Blackhawks are once again one of the worst teams in the league.
Think Bedard wasn’t aware of his own mistakes on the plays identified during the second intermission on Wednesday night? He even said as much when it came up after practice on Thursday.
Video and text of said comments below:
Connor Bedard on recent criticism of him on National Broadcasts “I don’t need to watch a broadcast to figure out if I made a mistake. I’m going to know.”
— CHGO Blackhawks (@chgo-blackhawks.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 1:28 PM
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Full comments from Connor Bedard on the recent scrutiny he's been receiving from national TV analysts: “I’m not watching broadcasts or anything. I’m playing hockey. Their job is to say what they see. I couldn’t really care less, to be honest, what people on the outside think of…
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 6, 2025
Offered similar thoughts in the recap from Wednesday’s game and will echo them here by saying that Bedard making mistakes which result in turnovers are going to happen when a 19-year-old is learning how to make things work at the NHL level. It’s part of the process. The problems with this team on the ice go miles beyond mistakes from Bedard.
And, will also point out that it would’ve been great if one of those veterans who’ve been getting touted as leaders of this team would’ve summoned some media over to their stalls to address the public criticism of the team’s franchise player.
Coach Anders Sorensen had his usual media appearance and was also asked about the ongoing drama:
#Blackhawks interim head coach Anders Sorensen on the Connor Bedard criticism: "Puck management is a big part of the game but we’ll keep those conversations between me and him, what we talk about. He’s aware, He’s a smart player. He knows if he makes a mistake. We talk during the…
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 6, 2025
As for the on-ice happenings, Jason Dickinson was absent from practice after leaving Wednesday’s game with an injury. No specific timeline for him yet but he’ll reportedly miss the remaining games ahead of the upcoming break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Dickinson out “next couple of games” with high ankle sprain so he at least gets the break to recover. Getting images tomorrow to get a better idea of timeline.
— Tracey Myers (@traceymyers.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Dickinson’s absence led to a bit of a lineup shuffle, with Teuvo and Murphy not around for practice for varying reasons:
Looks like these are the new Blackhawks forward lines:
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 6, 2025
Slaggert-Bedard-Donato
Teravainen*-Nazar-Mikheyev
Foligno-Kurashev-Bertuzzi
Maroon-Reichel-Smith
*Teravainen not practicing due to maintenance, so Foligno is double-shifting in his spot. Murphy also not practicing due to…
The Blackhawks are back to game action on Friday night, hosting the Nashville Predators.