Despite getting to play in front of a sold out crowd at historic Wrigley Field, the Chicago Blackhawks did not have a good outing at the 2025 NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Eve.
They were defeated 6-2 by the St. Louis Blues, adding another loss to their total. But there was one moment before the game when past Blackhawks legends Chris Chelios, Jeremy Roenick and Denis Savard were on the ice and were greeted by every member of the current team, except for Connor Bedard, the first overall Draft selection in 2023.
Roenick accused the young Blackhawks forward of a disrespectful faux pas, via TheSnipes&Stripes podcast.
“All the players came up to me, [Chelios], and [Savard], except one,” Roenick said. “That was Connor Bedard… If we don’t have that respect to go up and fist bump, to say congratulations, how can you do it with your own teammates?
“I’m not ripping on him in terms of his personality or anything like that. If he’s going to be the captain of this team, there is a lot of things that he has to think about in terms of being that leader, being that captain, and unfortunately he dropped the ball.”
And now Chelios is responding, essentially calling out his former teammate as being stuck in a previous decade, via 670 The Score.
“He might be stuck in the ‘90s, somewhat like I am. It’s just a generation thing. It has nothing to do with Connor. We were taught to shake people’s hands and look them in the eyes. That’s not the way it is (now).”
The Blackhawks are next in action against the Colorado Avalanche at United Center on Wednesday evening.
The Blackhawks are in last place in the Western Conference
It’s been a difficult 2024-25 season for the Blackhawks, who are in last place in the Western Conference. Despite multiple offseason additions, they’ve not translated into wins on the ice.
They also fired head coach Luke Richardson, replacing him with Rockford Ice Hogs coach Anders Sorenson, who became the first Swedish-born head coach in NHL history.
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