The Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Nov. 12 endured every type of emotion a sports fan can have. Frustration. Anger. Resentment. Ecstasy. Dizzying highs and crushing lows. Maybe a fist pump or two.
And we’re talking about an afternoon game in November.
Connor Bedard, the 2023 No. 1 overall pick whose elite shot and other-worldly hockey sense is apparent through the team’s first 13 games, scored twice in the Blackhawks’ losing effort, both goals the stuff ESPN highlight packages are made of.
But what also emerged from a Sunday matinee against the defending Eastern Conference champions was something more than a hard-fought effort. This Blackhawks squad, a healthy blend of teenagers, 20-somethings, and grizzled veterans, showed the rest of the league that they won’t back down from a fight.
Connor Bedard: An Absurd Talent
Let’s get this out of the way: How. Good. Is. Bedard?
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Now, let’s look at goal number two:
Just pure, unadulterated talent. The speed from which Bedard goes from backhand to forehand, snapping a wrister past Sergei Bobrovsky’s glove, is something you’ll only find in the 99th percentile. With nine goals in the Blackhawks’ first 13 games, Bedard is on pace for 57, the most for a rookie in an NHL season since Alex Ovechkin scored 52 in 2005-06.
Can he hit the 50-goal mark? There’s going to be ups and downs through the season, and Bedard’s recent hot streak of seven goals in his last six games is one of those ups. Of course, they’ll be cold streaks. But when it comes to generational talents like him, anything is possible.
Nick Foligno Stands Up for Connor Bedard
The other thing I wanted to talk about in this story was a scene towards the end of the second period. Bedard was trying to poke ahead a loose puck into the Panthers’ zone when defenseman Dmitri Kulikov laid a dangerous hit on the rookie in the numbers against the boards.
Without hesitation, Blackhawks’ forward Nick Foligno hooks Kulikov to the ice, then continues shoving him down, causing a melee. Foligno would be called for both hooking and roughing, giving the Panthers a four-minute power play, which the Blackhawks would kill.
I was surprised the officials didn’t call a penalty for boarding, but when it comes to the NHL and refereeing, nothing should surprise you. What I wasn’t surprised by was seeing a 17-year veteran immediately respond to a questionable hit on his teammate, one that will be the next face of the sport.
After the game, Foligno discussed the incident and his thought process behind stepping in without hesitation.
“He’s been a difference maker the whole game and I just didn’t like the hit,” said Foligno to reporters after the game. “You can’t let one of your best players get hit like that. I think any guy would have jumped in there and done what we did.
“We talk about that that moment of the game was the time, it was the time,” he continued. “It felt like the right thing to do.”
Head coach Luke Richardson was in agreement.
“I had no problem with Nick’s response at all,” said Richardson. “I think that’s a team mentality. I know it was a four-minute (penalty) kill and I think that drains some guys sometimes, but I think you put that extra effort in those kills so that those responses are rewarded.”
Asked about how important it was to kill the double-minor penalty, Foligno, a 2006 first-round pick with over 1,000 games played in the NHL, referenced the sort of natural cause and effect of the hockey universe.
“It was unbelievable. But those are the ones you kill. It’s funny how karma works sometimes,” Foligno said. “Those are the ones where your team is doing something for one another, you find a way to get that done.”
Why Nick Foligno’s Response Was Necessary
Hockey’s a long way from the days of Marty McSorley and Bob Probert standing up for teammates, being so-called “bodyguards” for Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman, respectively. The game has evolved beyond the need for full-time fighters (pardon me, Ryan Reaves). Even as a self-admitted scroller of HockeyFights.com, it doesn’t take a Rhodes Scholar to see the game is moving beyond the need for fighting.
But whether you like it or not, the game is still played by human beings, with emotions and fragile egos and among teammates whom you spend months at a time living with, eating with, sharing baby and dog photos with, laughing and crying with, and whom you don’t want to see get hurt.
It’s also a league of professional athletes sensing weakness from their opponents, seeing an opportunity to antagonize, to frustrate, to get in someone’s face and ask: “What the hell are you going to do about it?” The “aw shucks” personas and Good Guy © reputations can often mask the ruthless aggression and do-whatever-it-takes-and-I-mean-break-your-ankle mentality hockey players possess.
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Don’t believe me? Ask the rest of the league what they think about the Toronto Maple Leafs. Judging from the last handful of playoff appearances, combined with their lack of response to Boston Bruins’ forward Brad Marchand slew footing Maple Leafs’ defenseman Timothy Liljegren, I’m sure you can guess what the other 31 NHL teams think about the internal fortitude of the blue and white.
Barbaric and brutish? What did you expect out of an activity where players have knives attached to their boots, holding a stick the entire time and slapping a closed disc of vulcanized rubber around on ice? And how do you think a rebuilding team like the Blackhawks, looking to establish an identity, would react to seeing an 18-year-old be on the receiving end of a questionable hit?
It’s 2023 and the number of instances where players drop their gloves has dropped significantly. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) outright banned fighting, meaning players will receive a game misconduct if they engage in a fight. The ECHL banned any fights that happen immediately after a faceoff. It won’t be long until the rest of junior hockey and the professional ranks follow suit.
But as long as it’s still allowed, or at least only punished with a penalty, the game and those who play it will act accordingly. This isn’t a defense of fighting, just a summary of its place in the sport. And while teams continue to test Bedard and see how he handles himself in a league of grown men with families and mortgages, it’s up to teammates like Foligno to step up and protect them when called upon.
While we’re at it, the best teams in the game don’t just respond to a fight, they go out looking for one. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt the Blackhawks to follow suit.
