Blackhawks’ rookie sensation living up to the hype

Blackhawks’ rookie sensation living up to the hype

The Connor Bedard Show has arrived in River City for the first of many viewings.

That the Chicago Blackhawks phenom landed in the Central Division will probably be seen as both a blessing and a curse for a Winnipeg Jets fan base that was often tortured emotionally by Wayne Gretzky during the Smythe Division days.

The former Regina Pats captain is in town for his first NHL game in Winnipeg and he’s expecting a strong contingent of Saskatchewan folks to make their way down the No. 1 highway.

Based on what we’ve seen so far from the highlight reels, Bedard figures to be worth the price of admission.

He’s definitely left an impression on some of his colleagues through the first quarter of his rookie season.

“He’s come in and lived up to the hype. He’s going to be a generational goal scorer,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry, who figures to see plenty of Bedard in a head-to-head matchup on Saturday. “It’s not an easy task to come into the NHL and score at the rate he’s scoring at. It’s one thing in junior, where his shot is so much better and the goalies aren’t quick enough, not strong enough to get to those spots.

“It’s another thing to come into the NHL and you’re beating the best goalies in the world.”

Bedard has already tallied 10 goals and 18 points in 21 games with a Blackhawks team that is still in the midst of a full rebuild.

That’s part of what has made his high rate of production even more impressive — not to mention provide a glimpse of what’s to come once the Blackhawks surround him with a bit more talent.

“He’s not able to come in and dominate with superstars around him. It’s a lot of young guys that are playing together and trying to build together,” said Lowry. “That’s really impressed me, the maturity in his game and you’ve got to think that’s just going to continue to get better and that’s a scary thought to think. He’s almost at half a goal a game right now at 18, what’s it going to look like in a few years, when he’s got a little more experience and he’s got a little more strength, a little more knowledge. It’s a scary thought.”

Jets forward Cole Perfetti is familiar with Bedard dating back to their time on Canada’s world junior team together in Edmonton, when the tournament was shut down early due to a Covid-19 outbreak.

“I spent a month with him and he was my linemate at that tournament,” said Perfetti. “You saw it at 16 and he was the same way. He wanted the puck, he wanted to make a difference and he wanted to make a play. His shot and skill was very noticeable and off the charts. You knew from a young age that he was going to be elite.

“He’s not afraid to walk a guy, he’s not afraid to challenge a guy one-on-one, not afraid to hold onto pucks. He’s got the confidence of a guy who has played 10 years in the league already and he’s played 20 games. A lot of kids, I know I was like that and most people are, they come in and they defer to the older guys. They don’t want to step out of bounds and go by the book. Not saying that he’s stepping out of line, but he’s demanding the puck and not deferring and he’s doing what he thinks is best. He’s obviously putting the puck in the back of the net and that’s not easy to do, especially as an 18 year old. It’s pretty impressive.”

Aside from carrying the weight of a franchise on his 18-year-old shoulders, Bedard is someone who has already garnered plenty of league-wide attention — and for good reason, as his talent is matched by his passion for the sport.

“There’s a lot of pressure put on his shoulders, a lot of responsibility,” said Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson. “We recognize that this is going to be THE guy going forward. He’s kind of plunged into it headfirst. He can turn this organization around quick. We’ve seen it with other generational talents. There’s no doubt that he’s definitely going to be that guy.”

Two of the many things that have stuck out to Dickinson so far are his drive and focus.

“None of it bothers him,” said Dickinson, asked about the hype that follows Bedard around from stop to stop. “He knows everybody is talking about him and he knows the organization is on his shoulders. It doesn’t weigh him down.

“He’s uber competitive and he gets frustrated because he expects so much from himself. That’s the biggest thing I see, he works on it all the time. He absolutely loves the game and he wants to play hockey all day, every day like any other 18 year old. He just happens to be doing it in the best league.”

Beyond the glass:

There’s no question Rick Bowness and Dean Evason have had their share of battles. Who can forget last season, for example, when the two head coaches traded heated words and gestures as the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild engaged in a bit of tomfoolery on the ice. Bowness appeared to be making fun of Evason’s height, while Evason seemed to invite Bowness to come on over and say it to his face. It was fabulous stuff.

When push comes to shove, the NHL coaching fraternity is a tight-knit one. There’s only 32 jobs at any given time, after all. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Bowness sent Evason a text earlier this week after the Manitoba product was fired by the Wild.

“I’m the older guy in the league, I gotta do these things,” Bowness said earlier this week.

“You know, we’re the only ones that know what we go through. You guys are reporters, your job is to report what you see. But you don’t have all of the information that we have. We know who is playing hurt. You don’t. We know who is having issues off of the ice and you don’t. So you can only report on what you see. The only guys who really know what’s going on is the coaches. That’s why this is a tight fraternity and we know that eventually, we all take the blame. Hey, you signed up for it. If you can’t take the heat, don’t get into it. But one thing I’ve done the last few years is any time a coach is fired I reach out to them right away and wish them the best and hope you see them back behind the bench really quick.”

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Speaking of coaching changes, there’s now been two already this season with Edmonton’s Jay Woodcroft walking the plank a few weeks ago. If you believe in things happening in threes, who might be the next to go? A Vegas bookmaker sent us an email the other day with the latest odds.

Ottawa’s D.J. Smith is the current leader of the pack at 3/2. Right behind him is Lane Lambert of the New York Islanders (2/1), David Quinn of the San Jose Sharks (8/1) and Sheldon Keefe of the Toronto Maple Leafs (10/1).

Putting money down on the prospects of someone losing their job seems like a shady bit of business, but we couldn’t help but notice that you can now wager on WWE wrestling — that would be scripted sports entertainment, or the equivalent of betting on the outcome of a TV show or movie — so nothing should surprise us.

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While we’re on the subject of coaching, a big tip of the Dump & Chase hat — hey, we really should have some of those, don’t you think — to Philadelphia Flyers bench boss John Tortorella. Sure, he seems to enjoy playing the role of grumpy villain at times, including memorable clashes with media and even his own players at time. But beneath that gruff exterior is a kind heart, which was on display this week when he had nine-year-old Owen Micciche join him behind the bench for his club’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The young lad was diagnosed with a pediatric brain tumour as an infant, and two new tumours were recently found in his brain and spine. The Flyers gave him the VIP treatment, including his own stall in the dressing room, a custom jersey, reading out the opening lineup and even a rookie lap ahead of pre-game warmup. And then, a chance to stand side-by-side with Tortorella for part of the game.

“If you understand the history of this kid and what he’s going through, that just puts talking about losses, this, that, not scoring goals…it doesn’t mean a damn thing,” Tortorella said following the 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes. “I’m just thrilled we were a part of it. Great kid. He was yelling on the bench. I hope for a little bit, it helps him. It certainly puts things in perspective.”

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