Last October, it didn’t take long to notice that one straggler lingered on the rink after Chicago Blackhawks practice: No. 1 draft pick Connor Bedard.
He would skate and shoot from different angles or just futz around.
Back then, the rookie forward was asked if he should worry about burning out — all those extra minutes on the ice can accumulate.
“I’m not skating too hard after (practice) usually,” Bedard said a year ago. “Obviously you’ve got to take care of your body and feel good and everything, but I haven’t done anything too crazy. Just like to get a few extra reps here and there.
“I enjoy being out there.”
Flash forward to Thursday during training camp. Bedard once again was roaming the ice at Fifth Third Arena long after practice had ended.
“He looks bigger,” defenseman Alex Vlasic said. “He looks more invested in all these games and practices we’ve been playing.”
More invested?
Coach Luke Richardson said Bedard appears to have matured from a year ago, but “he’s still out there fiddling with the puck now. But I don’t know if we’ll ever get that out of him.”
Photos: Chicago Blackhawks open training camp at Fifth Third Arena
Richardson said he talked with Bedard last season about “energy management.”
“He might not think he’s burning a lot just stickhandling and shooting, but that’s a lot of time for a professional athlete,” Richardson said. “You’re basically taking that out of your rest time. And when you get three (games) in four nights, you’ve got to think ahead in the schedule.”
Connor Bedard still on the ice after Blackhawks practice ended. pic.twitter.com/AHM3GxoBqG
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) October 3, 2024
Try convincing a teenager — Bedard turned 19 on July 17 — that he needs to preserve his energy. Shouldn’t the coach put his foot down?
“We tried last year,” Richardson said with a chuckle. “We took his sticks, and then he flirted with his (endorsement) contract with Sherwood by taking someone else’s stick.
“And then we took the steel out of his skates one day and hid it. We’ll just have to have some fun with it too. He smiled but he still wanted to get out there and find a way to get out there.”
Richardson said he and coaches were trying to make “little points” with those pranks.
“We tried last year. We took his sticks, and then he flirted with his contract with Sherwood by taking someone else's stick. And then we took the steel out of his skates one day and hid it.
—Luke Richardson on putting his foot down with Connor Bedard skating after practice pic.twitter.com/DkQa2Y8OjJ
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) October 3, 2024
Bedard last season led all Hawks forwards and league rookies in average ice time (19:47). And he missed a chunk of the schedule midseason with a broken jaw.
It’s not as if he’s going to play less this season.
“I think he’ll realize it,” Richardson said. “Once he goes through it now and remembers, ‘Oh, yeah, last year, that third game in four nights, and travel, that’s a lot.’ Hopefully that experience from last year is going to kick in (and) just brings more maturity to him as a professional athlete.”
