The Chicago Blackhawks are not a good hockey team. Nick Foligno wishes it was better for Connor Bedard as far as the team situation.
The Chicago Blackhawks are struggling hard. It wasn't good before the new year but has worsened since the holiday break. They haven't just been losing, they've been getting blown out with very little chance to win most games.
Now, it is starting to affect the moods of players and coaches. After Monday night's loss to the Calgary Flames, the mood after the game was dim.
Connor Bedard and Nick Foligno were both available for the media in the locker room and they each had some tough things to say.
"It's really frustrating." Said a dejected Bedard in the postgame scrum. "We're competitive athletes and we take a lot of pride in our games, our group as a team and our fan base. It's been hard. It's been a lot of games to lose. It weighs on you. Yeah I mean, just trying to find a way of it, trying to get better every day. But it's hard."
The poor kid wasn't even allowing himself to be excited about reaching 100 career NHL points at 19 years old. It's a tremendous accomplishment and he can't even celebrate it.
"Right now, I couldn't care less." Bedard said after being asked about taking solace in the fact that he reached such an incredible milestone. "Ask me in a couple of days and I'll probably look at it a little different but just frustrated right now."
Nobody in the organization wanted Bedard to have this level of frustration and anger after losses. Every team loses games but he almost exclusively knows losing in the NHL after doing a lot of winning before being the number one pick.
"This isn't the start of a career that I was hoping for him." Nick Foligno said when talking about the toll that losing takes on Bedard.
Before saying that, Foligno mentioned that he has a family that he can go home to if he wants to escape the reality of the situation but a young kid like Bedard just sits in his frustration. That's a scary situation for the Blackhawks.
The production coming from Bedard on an individual level is just where it needs to be at 19 years old. He is better than most teenagers in NHL history as he already has 100 career points and it only took 112 games. That is the fastest it has taken a teenager to reach that milestone since Sidney Crosby did it in 80 games in 2006.
It is the team around him that is the problem. If he were in a better situation, he may even have more points as winning makes everyone feel good about their game.
How do the Hawks fix this situation for the kid? Well, it starts with the development of other young players around him. Guys like Frank Nazar, Artyom Levshunov, and Colton Dach amongst others must become contributors in the NHL so it isn't all on Bedard.
There have been veterans brought in but none of them have carried their weight enough to make this a better team in 2024-25. That's a problem that Kyle Davidson must address during the off-season.
It is a good thing that Nick Foligno commented on this and how he wishes the team was better for the sake of Bedard. Foligno understands how important Bedard is and how a good culture can impact his play long term. Management must take note now.
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