{"id":451621,"date":"2026-02-08T22:26:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T22:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/451621\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T22:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T22:26:17","slug":"blackhawks-week-ahead-schedule-storylines-olympic-break-edition-the-hockey-writers-chicago-blackhawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/451621\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackhawks Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Olympic Break Edition – The Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The week is a quiet one on the ice but a loud one in the media for the Chicago Blackhawks. The team is officially on hiatus for the 2026 Winter Olympic break, meaning there are no NHL games scheduled for this week.<\/p>\n

The Connor Bedard Olympic Snub<\/p>\n

The biggest topic of conversation in Chicago (and across Canada) is Connor Bedard being left off<\/a> Team Canada\u2019s final Olympic roster. Despite a strong sophomore season where he is scoring at a nearly point-per-game pace, Bedard was not selected.<\/p>\n

When an injury opened a roster spot (replacing Brayden Point), reports confirm that Team Canada opted for the Carolina Hurricanes\u2019 Seth Jarvis instead of Bedard, citing a preference for Jarvis\u2019s defensive\/two-way upside over Bedard\u2019s offensive profile.<\/p>\n

This has caused a significant \u201coutcry\u201d among the fanbase, who viewed the 2026 games as Bedard\u2019s potential breakout on the international senior stage.<\/p>\n

Teuvo Teravainen: The Lone Representative<\/p>\n

With Bedard staying home, forward Teuvo Teravainen is the only active Blackhawk participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics, representing Team Finland<\/a>. He will be reunited with former linemate Sebastian Aho of the Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

Trade Deadline Strategy: Buyer or Seller?<\/p>\n

With the NHL trade deadline approaching on March 6, 2026, the front office is using this break to finalize their strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the Blackhawks lingering on the fringe of the wild card race (trailing teams like the San Jose Sharks), management is weighing whether to sell pending free agents (like Connor Murphy or Nick Foligno) to stockpile assets or to pivot and \u201cbuy\u201d players with term to support Bedard immediately. Rumors suggest they are looking for long-term linemates rather than pure rentals.<\/p>\n

2026 Winter Olympics: Key Dates for Blackhawks Fans<\/p>\n

Even without a Blackhawks game, you can watch Teuvo Teravainen and Team Finland.<\/p>\n

Team Finland Preliminary round games this week:<\/p>\n

Feb. 11: Slovakia vs Finland, 10:40 a.m. (EST)<\/p>\n

Feb. 13: Finland vs Sweden, 6:10 a.m. (EST)<\/p>\n

Feb. 14: Finland vs Italy, 10:40 a.m.\u00a0(EST)<\/p>\n

Related \u2013 Guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics Men\u2019s Hockey Tournament<\/a><\/p>\n

AI tools were used to support the creation or distribution of this content, however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of The Hockey Writers editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

\"SUBSCRIBE<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The week is a quiet one on the ice but a loud one in the media for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[3189,521,37,96,5263,508,5,4,4445],"class_list":{"0":"post-451621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","9":"tag-blackhawks","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","12":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","13":"tag-connor-bedard","14":"tag-hockey","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-teuvo-teravainen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116037366276783268","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}