PUBLICATION
Sam Walker
February 13, 2026 (2:09 PM)
Photo credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
Connor Bedard missing Team Canada’s Olympic roster hits hard, and Jon Cooper’s honesty makes it feel even colder.
Cooper didn’t rip Bedard’s game. He basically told everyone the door stays shut unless you already own a key.
The message came when Canada needed injury replacements, and the conversation instantly swung back to Bedard.
Cooper leaned on one word that changes everything: familiarity.
He talked about trusting guys you have already “won with,” the kind you go through a wall for. That is not about talent; it is about comfort under stress.
“And familiarity is a real thing…Would we have loved to have kept the 4 Nations team and just added two guys? For sure. Because when you win with people, you know them, you trust them, you want to keep going through a wall for them.”
– Jon Cooper
Bedard’s numbers are not the problem. He has 23-30-53 this season, and he is still driving offense on a rough Chicago team.
Chicago sits at 22-26-9, so every night turns into survival hockey, not highlight hockey. That kind of context can get lost in a best-on-best room.
Canada unveiled its Olympic roster on December 31, and it is loaded with guys who already shared tight tournament minutes together.
Connor Bedard forces Team Canada to explain itself
Blackhawks fans are tired of the moving goalposts, because the kid keeps answering every on-ice question anyway.
Bedard is 20, the 2023 first-round, first-overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks, and the pace does not scare him.
The other wrinkle is availability. Bedard missed time with an upper-body injury that started December 12, and these short events punish even small gaps.
This is also about roles. Canada can chase “known” details like forecheck routes, penalty kill reads, and faceoff trust, even if Bedard’s ceiling is higher.
The annoying part is that familiarity can flip fast. One big shift, one big game, and the room suddenly “knows” you.
For Bedard, the next milestone is simple: keep stacking nights that look like Olympic hockey, not just Blackhawks hockey.
Previously on Chicago Hockey Insider
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Team Canada head coach Jon Cooper makes it clear as day why Connor Bedard remains at home during the Olympics
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