Blackhawks Hall practices, dishes out advice for Bedard
Veteran forward Taylor Hall practiced for the first time at Blackhawks training camp Saturday after sitting out the first two sessions with a lower-body injury.
Hall, who missed time last season with an undisclosed lower-body injury, sat out for precautionary reasons.
The Hawks acquired Hall and Nick Foligno in exchange for Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula on June 26.
Hall, who skated with Connor Bedard and Ryan Donato on Saturday, has 264 goals and 429 assists in 822 games. Hall was chosen No. 1 overall in 2010 by Edmonton and figures to be instrumental in guiding Bedard through his first season.
"It's a lot different than when I came in," Hall said. "There was no Twitter, Instagram, anything like that. You weren't getting highlights on your phone 10 minutes after they happened. ...
"It's important for him - when he leaves the rink - to get away from hockey, to find something to do to take his mind off it. It's a long year and you can't just think about hockey all the time. ... You have to leave the game at the rink. That way, when you come back to it, it feels more fresh in your brain."
Hall won the Hart Trophy for MVP in 2017-18 after scoring 39 goals and dishing out 54 assists for New Jersey. He was traded to the Bruins late in the 2020-21 season and scored 44 goals in 158 games in two-plus seasons.