Dietz: Analyst rants unfair to Hawks’ Bedard

Keyboard warriors have been poking and jabbing at Connor Bedard over the past few months for a variety of reasons.

But on Feb. 1, the gloves really came off when six-time Stanley Cup champion Mark Messier unleashed a verbal assault on the Blackhawks' center during the first intermission of an ugly 5-1 loss at Florida.

Messier took issue with Bedard's play in the defensive zone, which led to a goal by Sam Reinhart. Bedard — in Messier's opinion — was “soft on his stick” and made it far too easy for Reinhart to coast toward the net and tap in a pass from Aleksander Barkov.

The tally gave Florida a 2-1 lead midway through the period.

“He's right on Reinhart. This is a 50/50 battle,” said the 64-year-old Messier, who racked up 1,887 points during his career. “He's soft on his stick. And I'm sorry — the excuses for a young player are over now. He has to be better than that.”

Messier also took issue with Hawks coach Anders Sorensen for sending Bedard on the ice 41 seconds later when the Hawks were awarded a power play.

“(For) coaches,” Messier said, “there's no quicker way to destroy the morale of a team than (to continue to reward) players who don't earn their ice time.”

ESPN co-host P.K. Subban, a three-time all-star defenseman, “100%” agreed and added: “You've got to buy in. That's winning hockey.”

Then 39-year-old Paul Bissonnette, a TNT analyst who had a brief NHL career, said Bedard's style of reckless, error-prone play is akin to “pond hockey.”

Now, as most of you know, I'm the first to criticize athletes who aren't doing their jobs. But these rants felt like they were done to create a stir on social media and increase ratings. After all, 19-year-olds need a significant amount of time to become well-rounded players.

Bedard, to his credit, gave a mature answer to these verbal assaults, saying: “Hey, man I know if I messed up a play. It's their job to point that out and say how they feel about something. But if I make a mistake, I know. I don't need to watch a TNT broadcast to figure out if I made a mistake.”

Still, Bedard is not above criticism. And he certainly must improve on faceoffs and in the defensive zone.

“He's still trying to figure out the league — and it's a tough league,” said Troy Murray, a former Hawks forward and WGN 720-AM color commentator. “It's the hardest league in the world. As a 19-year-old, he's going up against mature men. It's not easy.”

In many ways, it starts in the faceoff circle where the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Bedard is winning a league-worst 35.3% of his draws. It's a number that simply is not acceptable.

“Connor's a player who needs to have possession of the puck,” Murray said. “He needs to have those touches. In a way he's not built to get pucks back. He's built to have the puck.

“So the more success he has in the faceoffs, the more possession he's going to have. If you're going to be a star player in the league you have to be able to go out in key situations and get the job done.”

Murray is impressed with how Bedard studies the tendencies of other teams. That kind of behind-the-scenes effort has helped Bedard become more comfortable in the offensive zone. Murray loves how Bedard doesn't panic under pressure and — just like Patrick Kane — draws players toward him so teammates can find oodles of open ice. Bedard continues to produce offensively as he's racked up 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in the last 34 games.

But sometimes he tries to do too much and it has dire consequences. Last Wednesday against Edmonton, for example, Bedard's fancy stickhandling led to a turnover near the offensive blue line. The Hawks got the puck back, but another misplay led to an Oilers goal and a 1-0 lead.

The sad thing was the Hawks were playing one of their best games. It's a reminder that the margin for error in the NHL is razor-thin.

So what is the key for Bedard in the D-zone? Murray said it's imperative not to get caught puck watching. He needs to understand what's going on around him.

“Hockey is not cut and dried. Hockey is chaos,” Murray said. “Who makes the most of the mistakes the other team makes? …

“He's in his second year and there's been great progress. But it has to continue and he still has to focus on what he needs to do better in his own end of the ice. Like a lot of players, it's everything: It's positioning, it's awareness, accountability, responsibility. Who's your man? Are you the first guy in the zone or are you the second guy?

“So it's a hard game and he's learning.”