JEFF BLASHILL PRESS CONFERENCE: Connor Bedard Placed on IR, Nick Foligno Traveling With Team

JEFF BLASHILL PRESS CONFERENCE: Connor Bedard Placed on IR, Nick Foligno Traveling With Team

Uh, is there an update on Conor McDonald as far as timeline? Um, what what I’d say is that uh we’re going to uh re-evaluate after the new year. So, we’ll get through uh we’ll get through uh you know the new year and then kind of reevaluate and see where he’s at. Are we talking about a shoulder, a a collar bone? Out of fairness to him, upper body. Upper body. Okay. Is that kind of what was expected? Is it uh Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was uh that was what was expected. Okay. Well, as we’ve talked about before, I mean, next man up, but and in this case, it’s going to be have to be everybody. Yeah. Yeah. It’s it’s one of those things. Uh uh you know, this stuff happens. You know, I just talked to uh uh the coaches in Tampa. I think they’re out another defenseman, you know, that they’re missing four of their starting D. Like, it’s just part of the you know, pro sports. And obviously Conor’s a huge piece. Nobody’s going to replace Connor in their own uh um collectively as a group. Um, one, I think we needed to do this anyways. We need to be better defensively. You’re, you know, you’re losing some scoring punch to think we’ll score at the same rate. Uh, might not be, uh, a reality. So, you got to be great defensively. And then two, in order to keep closer to the scoring rate, I think we’re going to have to score dirtier. We’re going to have to score, you know, those net front type goals, the tip type goals. Maybe not, you know, you’re not going to score from distance the way Connor can score from distance at a regular rate. So, we’re going to have to make sure we’re scoring dirtier. You’re going to need more Tyler Vatus, basically. Yeah, we do. you know, to be honest with you, you know, Tyler’s probably the one guy on our team that’s that’s great at it and he’s a natural at it and but it doesn’t really take anybody can do it. Um, you know, the one thing I’ve been impressed with Connor actually this year is he’s gone to the net and been netfront numerous times and so everybody can do it. Uh, it you know, it’s not that it doesn’t take a skill set. Certainly tipping pucks and things like that as a hand eye. There’s a skill to that, but being around the net and creating the chaos anybody can do. Is he going to need any sort of procedure or operation or anything? No, not at this time. Okay. Not at this time. So again, we’ll reevaluate after the new year and see where it’s at. But at this time, it’s uh it’s rehab. So at that point, when you reevaluate, that still is an option that’s on the table depending on how he’s Yeah. You know, let’s start with the rehab and see where it goes and then I’ll have a better update after that. When you when a presence like him comes out of the lineup, especially considering all the young guys you have, is there a chance for growth for those guys? Like I mean I think sometimes guys will defer to guys like Connor and stuff and maybe maybe feel more free to play their game when he’s not in the lineup. I I don’t know if it’s necessarily free but I think there’s a chance for growth and I don’t think it’s necessarily just from deferring or just what but but you know you can rely on him you know and and and so now there’s no you know there isn’t Connor to rely on and Connor’s not going to go out tomorrow night and uh uh you know score a score the big goal. He’s he’s not there. So then somebody else has to do that. And so, you know, it probably puts more pressure on the rest of the team and and that’s good. Let’s see which guys can take that pressure and and and up their game. Are you since it’s happened, are you more or less optimistic about the recovery time? Uh neither. You know, honestly, neither. I I I can’t sit here and say that’s why honestly like I’m I wasn’t uh until we kind of could evaluate and see where it’s at, I didn’t know what to expect. And um I would say it’s it’s it’s certainly not the worst prognosis. It could have been a worse prognosis. How would you describe him? He’s how is how do you think he’s doing? I mean great actually. Uh honestly his attitude’s good. I think he wants to be back next week and uh you know that’s kind of the approach that he takes and he wants to be back uh uh he you know um he would have preferred I said uh dayto-day um but to be out of fairness to all of you and and uh you know we the reality is is uh we won’t let him do that before before after the new year. He’s um he’s a bit of a rink rat obviously as we all know. Do you have to be careful like to make sure that he takes the time he needs here? I mean, and really keep an eye on him and make sure he’s not trying to do too much to try and get back. I mean, you know, right now he can’t. So, right now it’s not a, you know, for the first little bit here, it won’t be a big deal. And then once that, you know, he’ll be under close supervision. We’ll make sure. You know, the one thing Conor’s done going even back to last summer been really really smart about not overtraining. You know, um I think the previous summer there there might have been, you know, chance that he overtrained and from what I was told. And so, I think he’s been really smart. He knows his body as good as anybody and um so we’ll we’ll have close supervision but I trust him. On the positive side, how is uh Nicolino doing? Uh he’s he’s you know he’s getting closer but he’s not yet you know obviously practicing with us. Um he will not play tomorrow. Could he play on the trip? Potentially he’s going to go on the trip. Okay. Um so there’s a there’s a potential. Um but I I you know I wouldn’t rule out him playing on the trip. I wouldn’t rule out him not playing on the trip. What about is Brswis going with you all? Uh, no. Actually, um, we’re going to LV will go on waiverss today. Um, and then, uh, if he clears waivers, we’ll we’ll get him down to Rockford so he gets a chance to play more. And, uh, you know, I talked to him today. He was pumped that he got a chance to play and just kind of get get going again. Yeah, I was going to say for, you know, it’s been a long two years for him. I’m sure it’s it’s been great these last couple weeks to see some progress. Yeah, for sure. Um, you know, I think it’s uh uh, you know, he’s excited about it. Um, you know, you can take individual shots, but it’s not the same as a game. And, um, so he was pumped that he was able to just get going and and kind of, you know, it’s just it’s been a hard couple years for sure. So, good for him. You got to show off his offensive game, don’t he? He did. That’s awesome. Maybe we got to Yeah, we need him scoring some goals. Goals. Two young goalies down in Rockford already. Do you know how it’ll be handled in terms of I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Um, you know, there’d be opportunities potentially. Um, I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see how that’s all handled because I I don’t want to speak for Kyle. So, I I I that’s hasn’t been on my front of my radar in practice today. It seemed like um you were a little fired up a couple times, but what did you take away from practice today? Um, but there’s just, you know, um there was there’s there’s there’s moments where uh you listen, I don’t fake it. Uh emotion is what it is. Um, I I I come to practice not frustrated. I think frustration is a waste of human emotion. I’ve said that lots. Uh, but sometimes, you know, we need heightened awareness and uh uh we need to make sure that that you know, my job is to make sure that um we’re not letting that uh urgency slip at all. And um you know, what did I take from practice? We got we got better in some areas. We got to keep working. You know, like I said, there’s certain things we’re going to have to do. Uh you know, the best defense is is having the puck. you know, we did something early in the practice just to work on, you know, making sure we have puck possession as much as we can. That’s the best defense. And then beyond that, we got to keep getting better in our team defense. With Ethan Dastro getting recalled, is there a plan for him on the road? Um, you know, right now, um, we’ll make the lineup decision tomorrow. So, he’s a he’s a very uh, you know, I know he’s a good defenseman. I know he’s capable of helping us if needed. And, um, so, we’ll see where it goes. When you absolve Braden during that that face off, uh, is the injury something you noticed right away or something that Connor told you about that it would happen before the the contact? I didn’t notice it live at all. I had no idea he was hurt. I walked off the bench and I heard people saying trainer and then I looked and and I saw Connor coming off holding, you know what I mean? So, I knew something was up. Um, when I looked at the face off though, you can tell that what happened happened prior to ending the push and and so it was prior to the push. It was as as he was, you know, trying to go forward with the face off. It was unfortunate. Honestly, it was probably a freak accident, like I said, and it had nothing to do with uh Braden pushing after. And that’s just a natural reaction after you lose a face off is to do that. Braden’s a, you know, super quality guy. Um, there was no ill intent at all. You’ve talked a lot about team being to be a shoot first mentality and Nick Lardis kind of personifies that. Uh you’re kind of hoping that trickles down to the rest of the roster. Yeah, you know, I think I think you know, Nick Nick’s obviously got a weapon as a shot. He knows he’s got a weapon as a shot and he uses it. And um I think there’s times where you know, some guys make their you know, kind of their bread and butters more making plays or passing it. But but I just think when you when you’re in a scoring position, if you’re going to pass out of that scoring position, it better be a better scoring chance, you know, and and so I just think it’s something that, you know, as a group, we still got to get better at. Um but Nick Nick brings that to the table. And you know, Nick Nick’s uh we’re trying to put Nick in in uh I guess roles that he can succeed in. Um and and we’ll see. You know, it’s a it is still a big ask. Like it’s hard to be that age in in this league and be uh consistently a really good player, but that doesn’t mean he can’t. And hopefully over the next couple games he’s able to prove that he

Jeff Blashill met with the media to provide key injury updates ahead of the Blackhawks’ next stretch of games. Blashill confirmed that Connor Bedard has been placed on injured reserve as the team continues to evaluate his status and timeline. The Blackhawks head coach also shared that Nick Foligno will travel with the team, though his availability to play remains uncertain. Get all the latest updates and context from Blashill’s press conference on the current state of the Hawks’ lineup.

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