Bedard’s Competitive Fire Is Fueling the Blackhawks

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We all knew Connor Bedard was a competitive guy, but he’s taken it to another level these past handful of games. He was given the alternate captain title (along with Tyler Bertuzzi) after the Chicago Blackhawks traded captain Nick Foligno and alternate captains Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson at the 2026 trade deadline. While Bedard had worn the “A” before on a temporary basis due to injuries, now it will be permanent through the end of the 2025-26 season. It also seems like a foregone conclusion he’ll be awarded the captaincy for next season and beyond.

Bedard is taking his newfound leadership seriously, and it’s shown on the ice with even more fire than usual. Let’s look at the last three games for the Blackhawks, and how Bedard is leading the way.

Mar. 9 vs Utah Mammoth: Bedard With 2 Assists & a Career-High 4 Hits

The schedule worked out such that the Blackhawks faced their division rival, the Utah Mammoth, three times in a matter of 12 days. Obviously, this sparked some added intensity. The Blackhawks shut out Utah 4-0 on Sunday, Mar. 1, setting up a heated rematch on Mar. 9 at the United Center.

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The game went back and forth all night and the two teams took a 2-2 tie into overtime. Frank Nazar was the OT hero, with Bedard providing an assist on the goal.

Bedard also provided the primary assist on Andre Burakovsky’s goal in the second period, along with recording five shots on goal, 11! shot attempts, and a career-high four hits. Postgame, head coach Jeff Blashill said, “His compete was great, showed great leadership, the way that he came out to work and compete tonight.”

Connor Bedard Chicago Blackhawks
Connor Bedard’s competitive juices have really been coming to the forefront recently. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)

Bedard additionally won 7-of-14 faceoffs for a 50% success rate. This all set the table for an even more passionate matchup on Mar. 12.

Mar. 12 vs Mammoth: The Overtime Winner & 2 Staredowns

The Blackhawks ended up sweeping the Mammoth in their four-game season series, ironically winning on Mar. 12 by the same score as the previous game, 3-2 in overtime. This time it was Bedard himself who scored the game-winner. But that was just the icing on the cake. He was credited with just one hit in this one, but it was a doozie on defenseman MacKenzie Weegar.  

At another point in the game, Bedard and Weegar were wrestling behind the play for a good 20 seconds. To which Bedard deadpanned postgame, “Yeah, yeah. I was just tired. I didn’t want him to beat me up the ice. Trying to work smart. Work smarter, not harder.”

But the North Vancouver native didn’t just get into it with Utah players. He even had a few exchanges with the fans. One fan was heckling Bedard from special seating right on the glass in the Zamboni tunnel, of which the 20-year-old could hear every word (from ‘Mammoth fan who taunted Connor Bedard then drew his ire: ‘I kinda deserved it’’, The AthleticCHI – 3/13/2026). After feeding his teammate Bertuzzi a perfect pass that resulted in a power play goal in the third period, Bedard gave the fan a dirty staredown.

Bertuzzi joked after the game, “I’m trying to go celebrate with him and I see him looking in the crowd.”

But Bedard wasn’t done there. After his overtime-winning goal, he decided to let another fan know just who had won the game (as if she didn’t know already).

Added Blashill, “He’s got what all the great players have, and that’s a high, high level of compete. We’ve seen it different times this year, and good for him, he’s a very competitive person.”

Related – Blackhawks’ Last 18 Games Are Important for Jeff Blashill

Bedard ended this night with the game-winning goal, a primary assist, two shots on goal, seven shot attempts and one hit in a team-high 23:28 minutes of ice time.

Mar. 14 vs Vegas Golden Knights: Bedard Bringing More Physicality

This game certainly wasn’t as fun in that the Blackhawks were shut out 4-0 by a very good Vegas team. They took the lead early and never looked back. But the Blackhawks still kept up their compete level, and Bedard led the way. He set the tone early in the game in this altercation with defenseman Kaedan Korczak.

For some context here, Korczak is 6-foot-3, 206 pounds. Bedard is 5-foot-10, 190 pounds. This is just more evidence that Bedard isn’t going to back down to anyone. Later in the game, he delivered this big hit on Brayden McNabb.

The young center was credited with two hits in this game, by the way, along with two shots on goal and five shot attempts. He got into a chirping match with Mitch Marner as well.

These are just a few examples of how Bedard has seemingly ramped up his compete level. This is leading the way for the entire team, which is something an alternate captain should do (or future captain, for that matter). He spoke about his super competitive nature on Mar. 12 after the win over the Mammoth.

It was fun…And that’s my hockey. It’s gonna make us better, for sure.

Bedard is known for his elite talent, his scoring and play-making abilities. Of which we’ve seen plenty recently and over the course of this season. Anyone with that kind of success has to be extremely competitive. But Bedard has added an extra level of fire and intensity recently that’s certainly been fun to see.

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And he’s right; it will make him better, and the team better, moving forward.   

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