Is the national criticism of Blackhawks' Connor Bedard fair? Breaking down his shifts

National television games can be great for a team.

The Blackhawks were thriving on and off the ice when they were televised nationally during their most recent Stanley Cup years.

That attention was welcomed.

But when a team isnt playing so great, those additional eyeballs and the big-picture focus that comes with national games and commentators can have a more negative effect.

This years Winter Classic was a great example.

The Blackhawks were living in somewhat obscurity prior to the game at Wrigley Field, and their issues this season all got exposed when they were seen by a larger audience on national television.

There was plenty of national talk about how bad the Blackhawks were after that game.

Advertisement Which brings us to this past week.

By a fluke in the schedule, the Blackhawks appeared on national television in consecutive games.

They hadnt been on it for 10 games before appearing on ABC against the Florida Panthers on Saturday and wont be on for 18 more games after playing the Edmonton Oilers on TNT on Wednesday.

But for those two latest games, they were front and center on the NHL schedule.

As always these days with the Blackhawks, Connor Bedard was the main topic on those broadcasts.

Although some of the buzz and intrigue around Bedard has worn off in his second season, his development does remain under a microscope.

In Saturdays game, ESPNs Mark Messier criticized Bedard for being soft on a puck battle at the net and thought he should be benched.

On Wednesday, TNTs Paul Bissonnette questioned the little details of Bedards game and said the Blackhawks would keep losing if he continued to play that way.

He described Bedards play as pond hockey.

Bedard shrugged off the national hot takes when asked about them on Thursday.

Im not watching broadcasts or anything, Bedard said.

Im playing hockey.

Their job is to say what they see.

I couldnt really care less, to be honest, what people on the outside think of me.

But of course, Im not going to be butthurt if someone says I make a bad play.

I dont care.

Its their job to say what they feel.

Im not going to take anything personally.

Its the type of response Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen has come to expect from him.

Bedards words and actions are what the Blackhawks care about, not the outside opinion.

Sorensen and Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson have had plenty of positive things to say about Bedard in recent weeks.

I think Ive said this before, for a 19-year-old player thats under the microscope as much he is, its actually remarkable how he handles everything, Sorensen said on Thursday.

To be that mature and how to handle things, he came to practice today, (the) first one on the ice, ready to go again.

I give him a lot of credit for that.

Theres a lot of pressure on him in general but I think he puts more pressure on himself than anybody.

So I think hes handling it terrifically.

Advertisement How the national broadcasts have focused on Bedard, especially his struggles on a losing team, and how the Blackhawks have pushed back on those narratives isnt surprising.

Thats probably what youd expect from both.

But whats the reality? Is Bedards effort lacking? Is his defense a concern? Does he lack the details? Is he making careless plays? To answer those questions, I went through all 23 of Bedards shifts and 20:58 of ice time against the Oilers on Wednesday.

If something good or bad jumped out, I cut clips of it.

I ended up with 17 clips.

There was good and bad, so try to clean up the bad, Bedard said of his overall performance on Wednesday.

This first clip is from Bedards opening shift.

Bedards line, which included Ryan Donato and Landon Slaggert, is on the ice against Connor McDavid and his line.

Bedard faced McDavid most of the night.

They were on the ice for 11:54 together in five-on-five play.

On this play, McDavid enters the zone with the puck and encounters Alex Vlasic.

Bedard skates to McDavid to create a trap and force a pass.

Bedard turns, creates another one-on-two scenario for the Oilers and helps create a turnover.

Its fun, man, Bedard said of matching up with McDavid.

You want to play against the best and compete against the best player in the world.

To be able to get that chance and trust from Anders for us to go against him, its a lot of fun.

Its only going to make us better, make me better.

I love that I got the chance to play against him.

Bedard will be kicking himself for not scoring on this next clip.

He gets a pass from Slaggert to free himself to the net.

Bedard shoots wide.

He follows his shot, wins the puck behind the net and sets up Slaggert for an opportunity.

Bedards shot was hyped up when he entered the league, but hes been more of a playmaker.

In this next play, he waits for Oilers defenders to converge on him and makes a read to find Pat Maroon in the middle of the ice.

Bedard and his line spend nearly a minute in the defensive zone on this shift.

Bedard is playing high in the zone.

You can tell hes looking for opportunities to create odd-man rushes, but hes also potentially opening up ice for the Oilers.

He has to hustle back a few times to return to the action.

In Sorensens system, he wants the Blackhawks first forward in the defensive play to go low and the other high.

It takes some pressure off the Blackhawks young centers such as Bedard and Frank Nazar.

Bedard has a more active defensive role on this shift.

When Slaggert pokes the puck from McDavid, Bedard engages in a puck battle with McDavid against the wall and wins it.

Maybe the biggest thing is stick battles and stuff, Bedard said of his biggest improvement this season.

I feel pretty good in that area, whether its on the forecheck or in my own end or whatever.

Its something I worked on a lot over the summer and I feel like Ive progressed.

As the year goes on, Im able to win some more battles.

Ill try to keep building on that.

Bedard nearly connects with Slaggert with a creative spin pass early in the second period.

Bedards shot gets deflected here, but he moved into a space where its realistic for him to score.

Hes been better at doing so this season than last.

This shift has it all.

Bedard is stickhandling around players.

Hes creating shots for himself and his teammates.

He and Donato are giving-and-going.

Its one of the Blackhawks best offensive zone stretches of the game.

And then the shift turns on Bedard and the Blackhawks.

He makes a careless play near the blue line.

To make it worse, hes given the puck to McDavid.

Bedard takes a penalty to slow him down.

Bedard was criticized for this next play.

The pass isnt a huge deal and he almost gets it through.

Maybe it could have used a little more lift on it.

The issue is that Bedard is fatigued.

He cant keep up with the counterattack.

When the Oilers dont score, Bedard is looking for a chance to get off the ice.

He departs when he thinks its safe, but it doesnt work out for him or the Blackhawks.

There is a fair criticism that Bedard could be better at managing his shift times.

Hes tied for eighth in the league with 58 seconds per shift.

He had nine shifts of a minute or more against the Oilers.

Bedard takes his second penalty of the game.

Thats not ideal, but you cant fault the effort on the forecheck.

The Blackhawks do need Bedard to clean up some of his penalties.

Hes tied for the team lead with 14 minor penalties and has drawn just seven this season.

Bedard probably tries to get too creative on this one.

Theres less margin for error with the traffic.

He is the first forward back to defend low after the turnover.

We talk during the game, Sorensen said.

Hes a smart player, but hes aware.

Even if you look at those turnovers he had, if you look at whos the first guy back after those turnovers, its him.

So he knows.

Bedard forces another McDavid turnover here.

We wanted him to go against (McDavid) and for the most part he did a really good job, Sorensen said.

It looked like the big guy on the other side was getting frustrated at times and that line itself with the D behind them did a really good job against them.

The Blackhawks had an advantage in shot attempts, shots on goal and scoring chances when Bedard and McDavid were on the ice.

Bedard takes the puck from McDavid again on this play when McDavid turns his back.

Bedard loses the puck in the offensive zone, but he wins it back quickly and it nearly leads to a goal by Maroon.

Its obvious if you make a mistake, youre going to try to clean it up, Bedard said of the latter half of this play.

I think when you make a mistake, youre more determined to go get the puck back or whatnot.

If you need to learn that, its probably not a good thing.

Bedard cant handle a pass along the boards here.

He chases after it and wins the puck back to keep it in the offensive zone.

Bedard picks up the second assist on Donatos goal.

Bedard has registered points in 17 of his last 20 games.

Bedard helps keep this play alive by first dumping the puck low as three defenders converge on him near the blue line.

From there, hes continually engaged where the puck is.

He doesnt make the play to set up the game-tying goal, but hes part of the team game here.

In this last clip late in the third period, Bedard is hunting around the neutral zone again.

He pokes the puck from two Oilers sticks and heads the other way.

When its apparent he has nothing in front of him, he puts the puck deep and starts the teams forecheck.

(Photo of Connor Bedard and Connor McDavid: Melissa Tamez / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.