It’s been a month since Connor Bedard suffered a broken jaw in a collision with Brendan Smith. On January 8, he was operated on, and a week later he jumped on the ice again for the first time. “He was begging for it,” Chicago Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said at the time. He received a few prohibitions from the doctors. among other things, he was not allowed to shoot the golf club. And he didn’t miss a volley even during the skills competitions at the weekend, he played the role of recorder at the All-Star meeting. And fans, seeing how he’s doing, were asking, “Why isn’t he playing yet?”
“Let him take the basket. We want Bedard,” shout hockey enthusiasts on social networks.
They want to see the divinely gifted Canadian in sharp matches, not during the exhibition, where he was just sending pucks to other guys, or in a chair while talking to another draft pick. Half a body taller than basketball player Victor Wembanyama.
“If it only mattered to me, I’d be back,” the pause from competitive duels in the NHL annoys the player himself. Bedard loves hockey, he would very much like to play, but the doctors gave him a clear prognosis after the operation – complete recovery will take six to eight weeks.
There are still at least two left. Jumping in early means taking too much risk.
“I feel good and I feel ready to play. But the important thing is that the jaw is fully healed and that I don’t risk anything with my return,” he said in Toronto. He met the fans there, fulfilled his advertising obligations and, at least in an episodic role, was also involved on the ice.
Do not reach! Bedard is also training in the green “non-contact” jersey this week:
For example, he recorded Matt Barzal’s golf shots. “I threatened him that if he didn’t give me an accurate pass, he’d be in trouble,” laughed Barzal, who, like Bedard, is from British Columbia and spent years watching the super-talent grow up.
To poke him a little, he returned the first pass.
Bedard has been skating regularly since January 15 and is slowly training, but Richardson confirmed that he is still counting on the original date for his comeback. Blackhawks are not going to rush anything, underestimate anything. The smiling 98-year-old is too important to them. It equals their future.
At least Bedard is happy that he was able to switch to a regular diet. “In the beginning, I only had smoothies and juices,” he recalled of the days when he sucked food with a straw. “I didn’t go as far as some of the guys from Chicago who told me they were mixing tacos,” he explained.
He enjoyed the All-Star Game weekend, thinking he met a lot of great hockey players. Not long ago, he only looked up to many in admiration. Now he is one of them. A league star, after all, he managed 33 points in 39 games as a teenager.
Praise for him can be heard from all sides. And he also received sympathy. From another Connor – McDavid. He himself knows very well what it’s like to work through an injury in a rookie season in which you excel. “It’s sad when someone who is so passionate about hockey gets injured,” lamented Bedard. Health troubles deprived McDavid of the Calder Trophy.
He finished third. Will history repeat itself for the second Connor? Despite the involuntary break, he remains (not only) a favorite with bookmakers. Even if only mild for some.
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2024-02-08 13:00:00
#isnt #playing #basket #Bedard
