Connor Bedard is set to play in his hometown as the Chicago Blackhawks face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. The second-year forward is expected to attract significant attention, with numerous family and friends likely attending due to the high demand for tickets.
“Nothing too wild, but I’ll be paying to play for a day,” he mentioned, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Bedard, who was the first overall pick in the 2023 draft and received the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year last season, missed his team’s only visit to Vancouver last year due to a broken jaw. This homecoming could reignite his performance, as he has scored only three goals and accumulated 13 points in 17 games this season. He has been struggling recently, with just one assist in his last four games and no goals in the last eight.
“I’ve just been less impactful lately and not really making a difference,” he stated this week, according to The Hockey News. “I’m hoping to contribute more.”
The Blackhawks are coming off a 3-1 defeat to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, having secured just one win in their last four outings. They were outperformed for the first two periods but stayed within reach until a late empty-net goal ended their hopes. Forward Nick Foligno expressed disappointment, acknowledging, “We talked about it. They start strong, too, and we just didn’t respond, which is disappointing.”
The Canucks, meanwhile, are looking to bounce back after a lackluster 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday. They’ve recorded only two wins at home (2-3-3) while faring better on the road with six wins out of seven games. Despite taking an early lead against the Islanders, they allowed five straight goals, prompting coach Rick Tocchet to apologize to the fans.
“We’re not performing well enough at home. It falls on me,” Tocchet admitted. “The guys played lightly on Thursday. I felt we were ready, but we weren’t. That’s on me.”
There is debate about whether the blame lies more with the coach or the players, but a change is necessary soon. Even with Dakota Joshua returning after being diagnosed with testicular cancer last summer and 2022 first-round pick Jonathan Lekkerimaki scoring his first NHL goal in only his second game, the Canucks stumbled and have lost two of their first three games to begin a six-game homestand.
“We’re going to lose games; you can’t win all 82, so it’s normal. But this isn’t the way we should be losing,” defenseman Vincent Desharnais said. “We’re not meeting our standards right now. We have a challenging stretch ahead, and we need to sort things out.”
