Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago Coach Hints Team Canada Messed Up Not Naming Bedard

Is Connor Bedard being judged on who he was, not who he is now—and did Team Canada miss what his own coach sees?

by
Old Prof
January 1, 2026

There’s been plenty of chatter about who didn’t make Team Canada’s Olympic squad. That’s nothing new with Olympic teams. They’re stacked top to bottom, the choices are razor thin, and someone everyone expected to see always ends up on the outside. This time, one of those names is Connor Bedard.

Most people shrug and say, hard choices, great depth, he’ll get his turn. Fair enough. But when Bedard’s own head coach speaks up, it’s worth listening — because Jeff Blashill isn’t arguing from hype. He’s arguing from daily experience.

Blashill Starts by Respecting the Process

Blashill was careful to start with respect. He acknowledged how hard these decisions are, not just for Canada but for every country assembling a roster of elite players. That matters. This wasn’t sour grapes. It was context. And then he got to the point.

What Blashill believes — strongly — is that the rest of the league doesn’t yet understand what kind of player Connor Bedard has already become. Not what he might be someday. What he is right now.

Blashill pushed back hard on the idea that Bedard is just a point producer, a gifted offensive player you shelter and build around later. He talked about “two-way winning hockey,” and that phrase tells you everything. In Blashill’s eyes, Bedard impacts games in ways that don’t always show up neatly on charts or defensive metrics. And he was blunt about that, too.

He doesn’t trust most of those numbers yet. Not because they’re useless, but because they don’t measure what they claim to measure. Instead, Blashill trusts one thing: winning.

Blashill Talks About the Impact of Bedard on Blackhawks’ Success

When Bedard was in the Blackhawks lineup, the team was one point out of a wild-card spot. Since then? A rough stretch of 1-6-1. That doesn’t happen, Blashill said, if a player is collecting points and floating away from the hard parts of the game. That kind of swing only happens when a player is driving results — shift to shift, puck battle to puck battle.

This is where the conversation gets interesting. Olympic hockey isn’t about development or potential. It’s about short tournaments, tight games, and players who tilt the ice without needing perfect conditions. Blashill is saying Bedard already does that. Reliably. And earlier than most people expected.

Team Canada Didn’t Pick Bedard; His Coach Says They’re Wrong

Maybe Team Canada decided now wasn’t the moment. That’s their call. But if Blashill is right — and coaches usually know their own players best — then this might be one of those decisions people look back on and say, we didn’t quite see him clearly yet.

And that, more than anything, tells you how fast Connor Bedard is growing into his game.