CHICAGO — Corey Perry mishandled the puck at that point, Seth Jones fumbled a D-to-D pass and ended up passing the puck back to his own goalie, and the Chicago Blackhawks managed only a poor shot on their first power play of the preseason , giving coach Luke Richardson and his staff something to focus on during the second week of training camp, and… oh, who are we kidding? You’re not here to read about the Blackhawks’ power play.
You are here to watch this on a loop:
Yes, Connor Bedard played for the first time at the United Center in Thursday night’s preseason opener and he didn’t disappoint. He didn’t score in the Blackhawks’ 2-1 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues, but if this was the teaser trailer for the next 15 years, it was more than enough to get Blackhawks fans excited.
He assisted on both of the Blackhawks’ goals, including a nice pass to Andreas Athanasiou for the overtime winner. He provided an assist for Philipp Kurashev’s goal with a deflection at the net, won 10 of 16 face-offs, fired five shots on goal and nine attempts in total, made at least two nice defensive plays in his own goal and jumped out with a clever little stick lift on Colton Parayko.
Oh, and there was the time he exploded out of his own zone, separating Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas before pulling Jake Neighbors out of his shorts. On his second shift ever. Yes, that’s the stuff.
“I think I can get a lot better,” he said. “I don’t think I played great personally.”
He was alone in this opinion.
“That Bedard kid was pretty special, wasn’t he?” Nick Foligno said.
The 300 level was empty, but the crowd rose and fell every time Bedard hopped on or off the ice. Every time the puck touched his stick, the noise increased. Hell, the crowd even expected the puck to come his way and roared every time it was open.
“It was pretty awesome. “It’s crazy,” Foligno said. “What I love is the anticipation every time he touches the puck. That’s a great thing for a little boy to already be able to do when he’s on the ice. And he delivers. He is very special.”
Bedard wasn’t the only young Blackhawks player to receive some praise in the first preseason game. Kevin Korchinski and Marcel Marcel also received positive reviews from Richardson.
“I thought big Marcel played really well in the third period,” Richardson said. “He had a great D-zone battle with his stick. And that’s exactly how we do our system when we build a wall there. And he went down on the other end, made a play on the line and put a big hit behind the net. Got a cheer from the crowd; I think they seem to like the big guy moving. He had a big block on the D-zone penalty kill in the third period.
“Kevin Korchinski can really skate and he was pretty high up the ice tonight setting up the goal. But also another time in the third period, very similar, very confident to take the puck and go, regardless of whether it went all the way around the O-zone. I think that’s part of his game. He felt comfortable implementing that into his game plan tonight, which is good for us.”
Perry said Tuesday it wasn’t strange to put on a Blackhawks jersey, no matter how strange it was to everyone else in the hockey world.
“No, for me it’s my home now,” he said. “I’ve gotten used to it now. Of course there is some history, but I’m happy to be here.”
Well, it didn’t take long for Blackhawks fans to get over it. Perry was the first player to arrive (alongside Foligno) when Martin Misiak was laid off by Hunter Skinner in the second period. Perry threw a few punches and was met with loud cheers as he ran to the penalty box. That, even more than his net presence on the power play, was the reason the Blackhawks brought in the former league MVP and legendary agitator. Just replace Misiak with Bedard.
“We both looked at each other and said, ‘Who’s taking this guy?'” Foligno said. “I think what it does is it builds a culture. We care about each other. That’s just something (Perry) and I both think it’s very important and I’m sure everyone in this room does too.”
Misiak missed several shifts but returned late in the second period.
Kurashev is well aware of his statistics. The Blackhawks made sure of that when they used his offensive numbers as part of their presentation to an arbitrator about why he shouldn’t be paid as much as he wanted this offseason.
“It’s such a strange experience,” Kurashev said of the arbitration process.
Kurashev won the case and was awarded a $2.25 million cap hit over the next two seasons, but that doesn’t change those numbers. No matter how many opportunities Kurashev was given in his first three NHL seasons, his production (62 points in 191 games) fell short of expectations – his own or the team’s.
“Maybe the statistics haven’t shown too much yet, but I think I expect a lot from myself,” Kurashev said. “Hopefully this year I can take a step forward in that part of the game too.”
So how can Kurashev produce more? When he looks back on the past few seasons, he can remember many high-profile opportunities that he missed. Anyone who has seen it would probably agree. He often does a lot of things that you would think would give him more points than he would end up with.
Kurashev hopes to capitalize on those opportunities this season.
“I think I just become calmer and more relaxed when I get the chance,” he said. “I think we created a lot of chances last year, but I just think… the execution wasn’t always there, the finishing, maybe the last pass or whatever. I think a big part of it is just executing at the right moment and taking advantage of the opportunities that arise.”
Kurashev took advantage of one of these chances against the Blues. After Bedard redirected a pass from Korchinski into the net, Kurashev skated across the crease, grabbed the puck on his forehand, brought it to his backhand and lifted it just enough to beat the goalie and send it into the net.
Richardson liked what he saw from Kurashev so much that he made some changes to him at the top with Bedard and Taylor Hall.
During the national anthem, most of the Blackhawks fidgeted nervously, loosening up or raising their spirits. Foligno seemed as calm as possible, looking up at the flag with a big grin on his face. He’s been to many anthems at the United Center in his long career, but this one was different.
“I love it,” he said. “It was nice to be excited about it. I mean, I always enjoy hearing the anthem here. But being part of the home team and knowing that they are singing that for you is a special feeling. It’s an incredible atmosphere when they do that. I can’t wait for it to sell out.”
The Blackhawks sent Misiak, Nick Lardis and Alex Pharand back to their junior teams after the game. The camp roster is down to 51 players.
Thursday’s news that goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to miss two months for the Tampa Bay Lightning could have implications for the Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks own the Lightning’s 2024 first-round draft pick from the Brandon Hagel trade. The selection is protected among the top 10 (in this situation it would be postponed to 2025). So the Blackhawks want the Lightning to be worse than they were a season ago — when Chicago finished 19th after the Lightning’s first-round exit — but not particularly bad.
(Photo: Jamie Sabau / USA Today)