VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Saturday brought bad news for the Chicago Blackhawks’ Seth Jones and Taylor Hall — who both are going on the shelf for different reasons — but it was business as usual for Connor Bedard, with him set to play in his hometown for the first time in his NHL career.
Bedard, a North Vancouver native, missed his first chance to play against the Canucks at Rogers Arena last season, so Saturday’s game gives him his first opportunity to play on the ice he grew up watching.
“I feel the same as any other game, to be honest,” Bedard said. “I’m excited that my family gets to be here and they get to enjoy that, but right now, it just kind of feels like a normal game.”
It was anything but normal elsewhere in the Hawks locker room.
Jones, the Hawks’ top defenseman, was placed on injured reserve after hurting his right foot during Thursday’s game against Seattle Kraken, possibly from blocking a shot.
“We won’t really know anymore on that until we get home and get more in-depth evaluation,” coach Luke Richardson said.
Meanwhile, Hall, a top-six forward, has been benched so he can work on his game.
“We’re going to try and get him some practice time this afternoon,” Richardson said. “Unfortunately, the schedule isn’t allowed a lot of practice time for him, so that’s the plan.”
Here’s more on each situation.
1. How will the Hawks replace Jones?
At 25 minutes, 43 seconds per game, Jones doesn’t just put in the most minutes for the Hawks, he averages the most ice time in the league — four seconds more than Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski’s 25:39, through Friday.
“That’s a lot of minutes, and I know he’s crucial in a lot of areas in our team,” Richardson said. Injuries have “happened over the last couple years since I’ve been here, and the guys step up and it’s an opportunity to have more minutes and more important minutes.
“We’ve got some young guys in the lineup, too, that will hopefully benefit from that and take the opportunity and run with it.”
Added Bedard: “He’s a hell of a player and he has such a big role for us, means so much to our team. It’s just an opportunity for other guys to step up on the back end and try to take a role like that.”
Jones has two goals and eight assists and serves as the point man for the top power-play unit.
With Kevin Korchinski down in Rockford this season, there’s no offensive defenseman who’s the obvious choice to step into Jones’ shoes.
“It’ll probably depend on who’s rested out there,” Richardson said. “Probably (Alex) Vlasic will be on the first unit, if everybody’s going well and healthy, and (Alec) Martinez on the second unit. They’re both lefties, so if one’s maybe fatigued from a shift we might just switch that up.”
2. Scratching Hall is a blow to the ego, if not the offense.
Hall is a former No. 1 pick (2010) and was the 2017-18 Hart Memorial Trophy winner.
So news that he was scratched couldn’t have gone over well, especially since he put in months of work over last season and the summer to recover from a knee injury.
“I think just coming off eight, nine months out, to us, we just want to get him a little bit more work, and then it’s hard to do that in the games and not get too frustrated and chase it,” Richardson said. “So that’s our plan.
“Players never like to sit out, so he’s not happy sitting out, but hopefully this is a good step for him and it will help our team.”
The Hawks acquired Hall from the Boston Bruins two seasons ago to be on-ice mentor and literal wing man for Bedard. But Hall played just 10 games after tearing the ACL in his right knee in November, which sidelined him for the rest of the season.
He’s healthy this season, but perhaps not all the way back to form. Hall has two goals and four assists, but he’s shooting 5.3%, third worst among the Hawks forwards who’ve taken at least 10 shots.
Against the Kraken, he had just one shot on goal (for the third straight game) and played a season-low 13 minutes, 23 seconds.
“It’s not a one game thing,” Richardson said. “It’s just something this time of the year, and that’s the plan that we feel is beneficial for a guy coming back from a long layoff.”
The Hawks’ schedule, with 12 road games among the first 18, hasn’t been conducive to a lot of practice time, Richardson said. He didn’t specify how much practice time Hall would need.
“It’s me personally thinking that’s a good plan for over the next week,” Richardson said. “And I know the player disagrees, but sometimes that happens.”
3. Bedard is taking his homecoming in stride.
The main difference from most games has been the time he has gotten to spend with family.
“I went home yesterday,” he said. “We had a day off, so I went home and chilled out with my family. It’s been a tough start (to the season), so a little reset, hopefully that was good.”
Of course, Bedard has a lot of old friends, teammates and coaches from the area who’ve reached out.
“People kind of come out of the woodwork a little bit to try to get tickets, but just some friends and family that are here, coming to the game,” he said. “I won’t see most of them until after the game, but yesterday at home with my family, it was like a normal day.”
Bedard said he does cherish childhood memories of Rogers Arena.
“Yeah, just coming and watching games — I was a big fan,” he said. “It was cool to see some kids up there today, knowing I was in their shoes one day. It’s fun to look back and relive those moments, for sure.”
He also recalled skating there as a kid during a camp.
“I was 4 or 5 years old,” Bedard said. “This will be my second time, I guess.”
