When the Chicago Blackhawks hit the ice at Fifth Third Arena for practice on Wednesday, Connor Bedard was among those in attendance.
Bedard, who just returned last Friday from a shoulder injury that cost him 12 games, was forced to miss Monday’s matchup with Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers due to an illness. He was yet another victim of a flu/stomach bug that’s plagued the Blackhawks over the last five days.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting with Edmonton, Bedard was able suit up for the morning skate, but he explained that his symptoms were worsening as the game drew closer.
“A little before [the morning skate],” Bedard said, is when he started feeling ill. “I went back to bed for 20-30 minutes. Then, I was good enough and skated, [but] after that, it started coming. You kind of wish it was earlier, so you had more time to get it out.”
Bedard, known to be a fierce competitor, tried his best to head over to the United Center. After all, he had just spent the previous month out of the month out of the lineup, watching from afar. Sadly, his body wouldn’t cooperate, and he ended up as a late scratch, unable to play once again.
“I tried to get myself up and go,” Bedard said. “I was trying to get to the game, but it didn’t work out, unfortunately. It sucks to miss, obviously, but it is what it is.”
Fortunately, the 20-year-old budding superstar was feeling well enough to return to the ice as a full participant on Wednesday. Bedard returned to his spot on the Blackhawks’ top line with Ryan Greene and Andre Burakovsky, with whom he skated alongside during Saturday’s 3-0 win over the Nashville Predators.
Missing from the team’s practice session, however, was another forward. Teuvo Teravainen didn’t participate after leaving Monday’s game against Edmonton early with an upper-body injury. Teravainen missed the final two periods in the 4-1 loss.
Following practice, head coach Jeff Blashill didn’t get into specifics on Teravainen’s injury, adding that he’ll have more information in the coming days. But he’s already gathered enough to rule the 31-year-old out for Thursday’s tilt with the Calgary Flames.
“He will not play tomorrow,” Blashill said. “I’ll have an update for you after that. I don’t know about Saturday yet, but we’ll see.”
With Teravainen absent and given a day-to-day prognosis, fellow veteran Ryan Donato jumped up to the third line with rookies Oliver Moore and Nick Lardis.
While Donato doesn’t provide the same speed and playmaking as Teravainen, he brings more of a shoot-first mentality to the table, which could be a benefit for the line. There have been too many instances recently, and quite honestly, all season, where Teravainen has passed up an open shot to defer to one of his teammates. Donato won’t make those same mistakes. Despite averaging just 15:20 of ice time per game, he’s third on the Blackhawks with 78 shots on goal and 172 shot attempts this season.
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