Geoff Blashill explains why Connor Bedard received a major leadership honor

ByNBAUSA



The The Chicago Blackhawks won for a strong start to the 2025 NHL season, currently at 5-2 at this early point in the campaign. Former number one overall draft pick Connor Bedard was excellent to open the 2025-26 season, most recently recording an impressive hat trick in the Blackhawks’ home win over the Calgary Flames.

Bedard was recently named the alternate captain of the Blackhawks, despite still only being 20 years old, and head coach Jeff Blashill recently explained why he thought so was the right decision.

“We lost two guys (to injury) who lettered with ‘Fligi’ (Nick Foligno) and ‘Dickey’ (Jason Dickinson), so we needed somebody, and in the end, he earned it. He earned the opportunity,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill told NHL.com’s Myers. “One of the things we talked about at the beginning of the year was making sure we earn things, that we’re not entitled to success, we’re not entitled to wear the letter, we’re not entitled to any of that. And in his case, he absolutely deserved it. He deserved it, and if you told me today that every alternate on the team would say the same thing to a different captain, it makes total sense and he totally deserved it.”

“It’s great, for sure,” Bedard said. “There’s been a lot of great players that have the letter on their chest and it’s a great honor and something that I don’t take lightly and nobody would take lightly. It’s cool, for sure.”

“It was fun. Obviously we were early, 19 games, but it was just a lot of fun,” Bedard added. “We’re so determined to go out there and win.”

Either way, the Blackhawks next take the ice at home against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night at 8:00 PM ET.





2025-11-20 16:53:00

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