We will not hide it, no one saw the Blackhawks being competitive this season, despite some great additions this summer.
On the other hand, the fact of seeing them languish in the very last place in the general classification (before the matches on Tuesday evening) raises a lot of questions.
When we think of Hawkswe think of Connor Bedard and this year, he does not stand out as much as he did last year in his rookie season.
Immediately, we think of the second-year woe, but we don’t necessarily expect a guy like Bedard to be affected by it.
His three small goals in 18 games simply don’t measure up, even if he still has 10 assists on a team that is experiencing a lot of misery.
Let’s be realistic too, because on paper, Chicago isn’t that terrible.
With the additions of guys like Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi and Ilya Mikheyev (plus a healthy Taylor Hall) surrounding the young guys (Bedard, Lukas Reichel and Philipp Kurashev), last place is unacceptable.
Bedard must be the cornerstone of the team and he must find the back of the net more often.
Especially if he wants to play for Canada at the next 4 Nations Tournament.
Moreover, Darren Dreger and Ray Ferraro discussed his place within the Canadian team in their podcast The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcasta compagnie de Ryan Rishaug.
Ferraro and Dreger don’t see Bedard in Canada’s final lineup.
He even added that he seems completely lost.
Also, Ferraro made a good point.
He says that young people who are having difficulties often do one thing in particular: stay very long.
Ferraro specifies that as of Saturday, there were five players who were on the ice for more than a minute per shift on average.
Obviously, it is often the defenders who find themselves at the top.
Connor McDavid is also there, but Bedard was one of the five players with the highest average playing time per presence.
Ferraro also added that this average must be cut by a third.
On the other hand, Bedard is not the only problem for the Blackhawks.
In addition to new additions not performing up to expectations, head coach Luke Richardson could be part of the problem.
Let us recall the situation of Taylor Hall, who spent Saturday evening in the stands (healthy scratch).
Moreover, the latter did not really understand why he was left out, he who has six points in 17 games this season.
He even spoke publicly about the fact that there was a lack of communication at this level.
With hindsight, we can understand the frustration and incomprehension of the former winner of the Hart Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player.
On this subject, Luke Richardson sort of admitted his “mistake”.
It’s all part of the journey and experience as coach.
As we can see at the end of this text by Jonathan Larivée on HockeyFeedthe majority of supporters seem to side with Taylor Hall.
After the recent firing of Jim Montgomery in Boston, Richardson could very well be the next to get fired.
Which coach do you think will be the next to be let go this season?
In burst
– Interesting.
– He is so good with the puck. Too bad he’s a burden defensively.
– Good addition.
– What a pass.
– Indeed, it’s hard not to like him.
