{"id":246166,"date":"2025-09-22T11:07:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/246166\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T11:07:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:07:15","slug":"chicago-blackhawks-star-eager-to-begin-year-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/246166\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Blackhawks star eager to begin Year 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Blackhawks have plenty of questions going into their centennial season. As they continue to rebuild, they\u2019re starting to solidify their future anchors.<\/p>\n

Newly re-signed Frank Nazar<\/a> and Spencer Knight<\/a> are pivotal puzzle pieces to the Hawks gaining ground in the standings. So are prospects such as defensemen Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov and 2025 No. 3 pick Anton Frondell.<\/p>\n

Oh, and Connor Bedard. The franchise centerpiece is entering his third season with lofty expectations and unanswered questions.<\/p>\n

Will he sign an extension<\/a> with the Hawks? When will he sign? Will he make the leap to permanent NHL stardom? How much has he improved his speed<\/a>?<\/p>\n

One question is missing, though.<\/p>\n

How is Connor Bedard?<\/p>\n

Well, pretty good, actually. He\u2019s enjoying new coach Jeff Blashill\u2019s system and is ready for the season to get underway.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you haven\u2019t played a game for a while, you\u2019re excited to get back to it,\u201d Bedard said. \u201cI feel good where I\u2019m at physically and mentally and excited to get into some games.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hawks open their preseason schedule Tuesday in Detroit against the Red Wings. That\u2019s when we\u2019ll see Blashill\u2019s system in full play and what tweaks may be needed. Training camp began last week with a tough set of practices<\/a>, but Bedard believes it\u2019s for the better.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s spots to be had, so everyone\u2019s going to be working,\u201d Bedard said on Day 1 of camp. \u201c(Blashill) sets that bar for us. (It\u2019s) hard, but it needs to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life can be chaotic for a No. 1 draft pick in any sport \u2014 media demands, high expectations and more. This past offseason was a quieter one for the 20-year-old Bedard, and he said it was needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last three, four years have been a little chaotic, and I\u2019m grateful and blessed for that,\u201d Bedard said. \u201cI\u2019ve had amazing opportunities and I\u2019m 20 years old going into my third year in the league. It\u2019s nothing I would trade at all, but to have some time without anything \u2014 I was at home with my buddies training \u2014 it makes you really miss the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt that come the middle of summer, I was sick of working out and just wanted to play. I\u2019m really excited to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blashill has set the tone early in camp with his conditioning drills, loud voice and organized setup. While he\u2019s preaching toughness, he knows a good mental state is equally important.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve actually really enjoyed where our guys\u2019 heads are,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re really young and you come to the league, you\u2019re probably not as comfortable as when you\u2019ve been in the league a few years. I think guys are getting a little bit more (settled) in the expectations and their roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s certainly an important piece of it. Confidence is an amazing thing. Being willing to look at yourself and say what (you) need to get better at matters, and that self-evaluation comes as you continue to mature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being around the younger team has relieved Bedard of some of the weight on his shoulders. He doesn\u2019t see the noise as anything other than hockey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just play hockey and do what I love with some great people and great friends,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t really see it as pressure. You know what to expect, so you just feel more more prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bedard has accomplished plenty in his first two seasons, recording 128 points (45 goals, 83 assists) and winning the 2023-24 Calder Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year. His draft night was a little more than two years ago<\/a>, but that time has flown by for the Hawks center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s (a little) bit of both,\u201d Bedard said. \u201cIt feels like (draft night) just happened but also feels like it\u2019s forever ago in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shared some advice he would give to his then-17-year-old self.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnjoy every moment,\u201d Bedard said. \u201cIt\u2019s cliche, but honestly, I\u2019m happy with getting to learn on the fly. You can\u2019t say something without having experienced it. I\u2019ve learned a lot the last couple years, so I think I can use that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Blackhawks have plenty of questions going into their centennial season. As they continue to rebuild, they\u2019re…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":246167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[126896,960,291,123097,5386,1818,130865],"class_list":{"0":"post-246166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-blackhawks-training-camp","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","11":"tag-connor-bedard","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-illinois","14":"tag-nhl-preseason"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115247635156506023","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}