Blackhawks Luke Richardson: Connor Bedard, Other Youngsters Learn Best In Games With Limited iPad Views

It's all right to glance down while adjusting your helmet, but Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson doesn't want his players heads buried in iPads during games.

Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson says Connor Bedard is very receptive to critique on his play as he adjusts from junior hockey to the NHL. 

But when it comes to use of video to review plays during games, Richardson doesn't want the NHL's leading rookie scorer — or any Chicago player — to sacrifice their engagement in the contest for immersion with an with iPad.

Bedard is an eager hockey student, down to the minutiae. Richardson reminds that despite the hype surrounding the 18-year-old center – and all his points in the Western Hockey League — he's still absorbing what works in an NHL contest both with and against faster, quicker, bigger and more savvy full-grown men.

A case in point: Drop passes. There are times when putting a little extra push on one — or a "tail" as Richardson calls one — causes the puck to miss a teammate's stick. See video.

But a lot of points can be explained verbally during games, then reviewed on video later.

Richardson stops short of the full-throated ban of iPads on the bench that Philadelphia coach John Tortorella implemented last season. 

"I don't give a flying s---how I'm perceived, because it's my job to coach the team," Tortorella told reporters in January 2023 when asked if his policy might be too old-school.

Even current and past Blackhawks veterans – including Patrick Kane, Tyler Johnson and Andreas Athanasiou – have a reputation for reaching for almost-instant review of plays. But Richardson doesn't want it to become a big in-game habit for Bedard and other youngsters on his rebuilding team.

Like Tortorella, Richardson believes excessive tablet-time can cause players to loose touch with what's happening on the ice.

"I don't know," Richardson said when asked if Bedard is now the team's No. 1 iPad user. "But sometimes I think that becomes too much. You're missing the game and what's going on in front of you, and a lot of good teaching points, just by watching the other players play.

"Hearing other players or coaches comment on those plays, that's kind of learning on the fly as well, so you have to be careful..."

Richardson says checking an iPad during a TV timeout might be OK, but he's not a fan of doing it while play is going on.

"I think (players) have to be involved in game at the time," he said. "Otherwise they loose that aspect and it's like it's only about their shift. Well there's a lot more going on that you can learn from."  See video.