No Kraken
… But we have a former Canucks fan and current Kraken and western conference adversary. That would be 19-year-old North Vancouver native and 2nd-year NHL phenom Connor Bedard.
I was appalled one evening last season watching Bedard and this ‘Hawks team in Seattle playing the Kraken. The shift lengths for the young star were a modern version of 1970’s Phil Esposito, and although that’s an exaggeration, there was no rhyme or reason to Bedard’s shifts or those of his teammates. A lot of floating. Was this some type of rookie star treatment?
So here’s the deal now, whether 19 points in 24 games for Bedard this season is a “sophomore slump” or not, and regardless of how far down the slow path this Chicago team might be in its rebuild, I’m mostly curious to see where this kid’s all-around game stands.
I was invited into the press box for Monday night’s tilt between his Chicago Blackhawks and the host Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
I’m doing what I did for a Sidney Crosby game at Madison Square Garden in New York about 15 years ago, and again with Elias Pettersson of the Canucks just three seasons ago. A shift diary. My personal version of an iso’ camera on their efforts.
Is he and this team taking strides? Is Bedard becoming a complete hockey player? Let’s find out.
1st Period:
1:28 – 1:42 Came out for the 3rd shift of the game, on the fly, in the neutral zone in a defensive posture against a Leafs break-out. Backed into the D-zone and when a Toronto shot deflected out of play, he came off the ice for the defensive zone draw.
4:10 – 5:20 – Sat for awhile during a Chicago penalty kill. Came out for more of the same. Backed into his own zone defensively. His initial break-out pass hit a skate and the Hawks had to start over. Next attempt worked. In fact, a Toronto breakdown on a line change and a fortunate hop saw Bedard alone in the slot on a 2-on-1. Unfortunately for him, Tyler Bertuzzi fanned on his blind centering pass. After an exchange of possessions, the Blackhawks were guilty of icing and Bedard stayed on the ice. Not much came following the ensuring draw, Chicago cleared, and Bedard hit the bench.
7:25 – 7:49 – Bedard found himself hopping on the ice in time for a Toronto rush. It failed, and for a moment it looked like Bedard might have a 2-on-1 opportunity or at least a solo rush up the right wing boards. The key headman pass never arrived and for a moment he was caught alone up ice near the Toronto blue line. He hustled back in time for the Leafs to get a shot off and for Hawks goalie Arvid Soderblom to cover up.
10:48 – 11:27 – A slow paced rush for Chicago failed; the Leafs flipped a puck to center ice that sailed over Bedard’s head as he skated back. The Blackhawks regrouped in their own end and while doing so, former Leafs captain John Tavares picked up a hooking penalty. The clock ran for a bit uneventfully until Chicago touched for the whistle.
TV Time-out
11:27 – 12:45 Bedard’s shift continued off the break. He won a neutral zone draw. Chicago gained the Toronto end. The puck was pinned in the right wing corner for a prolonged amount of time. The Leafs cleared. Bedard helped gain the zone on the next rush. He set up top of the left wing circle but didn’t get a touch. After another clear, he and Bertuzzi got a bit crossed up with possession along the right wing boards and nothing came of it. Bedard smacked the boards with his stick as he went to the bench.
1-0 Toronto – Auston Matthews (6) – William Nylander, Oliver Ekman-Larsson – 15:35
15:35 – 16:29 – Bedard lost the center ice draw, but the Maple Leafs iced the puck. Bedard lost the O-zone draw and the Leafs cleared. Next trip in, Bedard and his group had the puck bounce dangerously near the left wing post, but nothing came of it. Toronto cleared and Chicago changed with possession.
18:15-18:55 – Chicago had its best scoring chance of the period. A shot from the point rebounded hard off of goalie Anthony Stolarz well beyond the reach of Bedard who was set up in front. After the Leafs cleared, no legitimate threat followed. Bedard cheated defensively, on the wrong side of his opponent at the Blackhawks blueline along the left wing boards. The puck, as one might expect, didn’t reach him.
Head coach Luke Richardson’s club definitely showed much structure than the two times I saw them in person last season. Bedard’s shifts were more realistic in terms of length and intensity. He still cheats to the offensive side of the puck. He seems anxious to put on a show and have some offensive success in the unofficial capital of the hockey world.
1-0 Maple Leafs
2nd Period
1:05 – 1:37 – Off the bench for an offensive zone draw that Toronto won. The Leafs broke out and had sustained pressure in the Chicago zone before a cross-ice Tavares pass was tipped into the seats. Most of Bedard’s shift was in the D-zone.
2:07 – 3:15 – Bedard and the 1st power play unit were on the ice after Auston Matthews went off for roughing. Bedard dangled behind the net a bit before making a blind pass along the right wing boards. The PP was flat and ended without a legitimate scoring chance. An errant pass to the corner resulted in an easy clear. Bedard exhibited a frustrated posture as he went to the bench.
3:39 – 5:10 – The teenager was right back on the ice for an offensive zone draw for a Chicago 5-on-3 power play after Ekman-Larsson went off for delay of game. Bedard was higher in the zone for this opportunity, firing one shot through traffic from the top of the left wing circle that hit his teammate Bertuzzi. The shot stung number-59 as he fell to the ice. The Blackhawks changed units off a clear after Bedard coughed up the puck trying to make a fancy dangle just inside his own blueline.
7:55 – 8:40 – A back and forth shift was highlighted by Bedard’s nifty stickhandling move around and through Leafs forward Pontus Holmberg in the neutral zone. Bedard chipped the puck in. Nothing came of it.
10:59 – 11:48 – Frustration started to mount. After a first rush failed to generate a legitimate chance — once shot was knocked down in front, near where Bedard was stationed –, the Blackhawks hustled back for a Toronto scoring chance. On the next rush up ice, Bedard fed the puck along the left wing boards to Bertuzzi, whose return pass missed Bedard by eight feet. The turnover allowed the Maple Leafs to regain possession. The kid took a pretty good hit, face-first, along the near boards from Toronto D-man Philippe Myers.
2-0 Toronto – John Tavares (11) – Mitch Marner, Pontus Holmberg
14:40- 15:44 – A sound rush up-ice, followed by sustained pressure from Chicago, saw Bedard get two chances, one of them a shot-on-goal from the high slot that Stolarz stopped with a left pad save. At one point earlier, Bedard made a beautiful cross ice pass from the left point to Taylor Hall set up in the right wing circle. Stolarz made the ensuing save.
16:58 – 17:36 – Bedard ultimately lost a tie-up draw and took a defensive posture after the Leafs gained their offensive zone. Nothing came of Toronto’s effort and it was Bedard who cleared the zone. Chicago’s offensive efforts resulted in an off-side call.
19:35 – 20:00 – Bedard set up in the slot for a left wing offensive zone draw. Toronto controlled the puck off the face-off along the end boards and eventually made their way up ice. No shots resulted.
Tyler Bertuzzi was awful. Bedard needs a talent and effort upgrade on his flank. Watching this team, one gets the impression Richardson is a placeholder behind the bench until the Blackhawks add more talent and are ready to take a sincere step forward with a different boss.
2-0 Maple Leafs
3rd Period
1:05 – 2:04 – Bedard skated hard to the net to cash in on pressure from his teammates, but Stolarz was able to freeze the puck 7 seconds into the shift. Toronto won the D-zone draw and cleared. After some neutral zone play, Bedard rushed up the right wing boards with his only support, or lack thereof, coming from Bertuzzi, who hustled across to the far boards and took himself out of consideration for receiving a pass. He’d been floating while Bedard gained possession at his own line.
2-1 Toront0 – Chicago’s Lukas Reichel (3) – Pat Maroon, T.J. Brodie – 3:26
3-1 Toronto – Fraser Minten (2) – Conor Timmins, Steven Lorentz – 3:47
3:47 – 4:23 Following the Toronto goal, Bedard came out for the draw at centre ice. There was a battle for the puck that spilled to the right wing boards. Some back and forth ensued, neither club able to gain any offensive traction. Chicago swapped out lines for an O-zone draw with Bedard’s shift having reached 36-seconds. Last season there’s a decent chance he would have stayed on the ice, more often than not, in that situation. As the game progressed and the Blackhawks chase the game, expect to see it.
7:30 – 8:55 – Bedard won a draw and linemate Taylor Hall rushed up ice and fired a shot from the left wing circle. Chicago kept possession and cycled. Bedard ended up on the left wing boards and his cross-crease pass whistled through the low slot and past everyone to the near boards. It caromed out of the zone and Chicago retrieved. The next quick rush opportunity resulted in an offside.
He and his mates stayed on the ice. He won the neutral zone face-off at 8:03. Chicago chipped the puck in, but didn’t retrieve. Toronto cleared.
11:47 – 12:22 – Excellent pressure from Bedard’s linemates after Hall won the O-zone draw. Bedard didn’t get touches, but Hall saw a couple scoring chances. Pucks were fired, saved and/or deflected. After Toronto was finally able to clear the zone, Chicago went shorthanded when Hall took a completely unnecessary slashing penalty in the neutral zone.
14:31 – 15:45 – The power play was awful, seemingly with players not sure what the others were doing or where they were supposed to be. Three entry attempts were anemic. Enough said.
Bedard came back out for a final shift with his goaltender pulled for an extra attacker. They didn’t develop anything. Toronto scored an empty netter.
4 -1 Toronto – Matthew Knies (10) – Mitch Marner, Philippe Myers – 18:15
Bertuzzi was bad, while Bedard seemed to try and do too much at times. Two or three of his nifty little dangle attempts completely failed against NHL D-men. Earlier in the game his cheated pucks defensively. There’s a long way to go for him and this hockey club. They’re pretty awful, while some of his unique skills are stifled.
Connor Bedard: 18:52 (tops among CHI forwards) – 20 shifts, minus-1, no other stats. That’s right, they took away his only shot-on-goal and credited it as a blocked shot. The stat folks screwed the pooch on that one.
