Until Tampa Bay limited Bedard on Thursday, the NHL's rookie scoring leader had been getting plenty of chances to practice. BTW: Bedard takes teammate Tyler Johnson's comment about playing with "F-U mentality" as a compliment.
NHL rookie scoring leader Connor Bedard has nine goals and 13 points in his first 14 games. The 18-year-old center had four goals and two assists in two contests before the Tampa Bay Lightning shut him – and his Blackhawks teammates — down 4-2 on Thursday night at the United Center (See our story on this site.)
And Bedard had 71 goals in 57 games last season as a junior star with the WHL Regina Pats.
So it's hard to believe the dynamic center still has to work on creating a signature look to scoring cellys. He's yet to match the energy and fist-pumping flair of, say, former Blackhawk Patrick Kane, a.k.a. "Showtime."
After some of his goals so far, Bedard has just stared — seemingly with little emotion — into the crowd. It's almost a "whatever" look. Maybe that happens because he's scored by the bucket against bigger, older kids since first lacing on a pair of skates in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
Bedard doesn't prep his cellys in advance.
"It's kind of whatever comes, I think," Bedard said before Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the United Center,. "Some of them are good. Some of them are bad. Hopefully I can do a couple more, but we'll see." See the video.
Bedard has played with extra feistiness in the past week, stealing pucks and battling effectively with much larger players. Veteran teammate Tyler Johnson, who at 5-foot-8 is slightly shorter than Bedard, said the rookie is playing with a "chip on his shoulder" and an "F-U mentality" that's helpful for a smaller player.
Bedard took that as compliment. See the video.