Blackhawks’ creative attempts to keep star Connor Bedard away from the ice – Source: Getty

Chicago Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson has had to get creative to keep his star rookie Connor Bedard off the ice during rest periods.

After practices, Bedard would often stay out to shoot pucks from different angles or just mess around on the ice. Concerned about the young forward burning himself out from the extra on-ice minutes, Richardson tried different tactics to curb Bedard’s ice time.

“We tried last year. We took his sticks, and then he flirted with his contract with Sherwood by taking someone else’s stick. And then we took the steel out of his skates one day and hid it. … We’ll just have to have some fun with it,” Richardson said.

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While Bedard may not think he’s exerting much energy just stickhandling and shooting pucks, Richardson knows that it all adds up for a professional hockey player.

“He might not think he’s burning a lot (of energy) just stickhandling and shooting, but that’s a lot of time for a professional athlete. You’re basically taking that out of your rest time. And when you get three (games) in four nights, you’ve got to think ahead in the schedule,” Richardson explained.

With Bedard unlikely to see less ice time during games this season after leading Blackhawks forwards and NHL rookies in average time on ice last season, Richardson hopes the now more seasoned star has learned the importance of proper rest and recovery.

“I think he’ll realize it once he goes through it now and remembers, ‘Oh, yeah, last year, that third game in four nights, and travel, that’s a lot.’ Hopefully that experience from last year is going to kick in (and) just brings more maturity to him as a professional athlete.” Richardson added.

The 2023 first overall draft pick and 2024 Calder Trophy winner, Bedard scored 22 goals and had 39 assists in 68 games last season before having his year cut short by a broken jaw.

Connor Bedard inks exclusive autograph deal with Fanatics

Connor Bedard has signed an exclusive autograph deal with Fanatics. Under the agreement, Fanatics will be the sole distributor of officially licensed memorabilia and collectibles signed by Bedard.

It opens the floodgates for Blackhawks fans and collectors to get their hands on a wide variety of Bedard autographed items.

The memorabilia available will include signed Connor Bedard jerseys, pucks, sticks, helmets, gloves and photos. Fanatics also said that there will be unique game-used equipment that Bedard wore during games with the Blackhawks, All-Star competitions and other events.