Morning Chirps: Bedard meets the media, Marchand keeps on trolling

The Chicago Blackhawks are back in action tonight when they host the St. Louis Blues. They will be without their top star again, but his return appears to be coming soon. Be sure to check back in later today for a game preview and some late-night postgame thoughts.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Connor Bedard joined his teammates at practice yesterday, wearing a non-contact jersey. He met the media afterwards and said he was feeling great, but would not give us a hint on when he might return to the lineup. Head coach Jeff Blashill ruled him out for tonight’s game and said they’ll take it day by day after that.

• Bedard was asked about his snub from Team Canada. He said he was disappointed but not angry, and that he bore responsibility for not making the Olympic roster. He gave a great response when asked if he was given an explanation for not making the cut.

"I don’t need to know too much, but I think the positive I’ve taken out of this is that I get to look at my game and where I can improve. When you don’t meet an expectation or meet one of your goals, the only thing to do is look in the mirror and see where you can get better. That’s an exciting opportunity for me. At the end of the day, the players pick the team (with) how you play. I felt I was playing well, but of course, I want to make it where there’s no choice. That’s not on who’s picking the team; that’s on the players. That’s the positive I’ve taken out of that, and it’s exciting for me."

Connor Bedard

• Frank Nazar was on the ice before practice, wearing a face guard, but did not take part in any drills. Blashill said he has a longer timetable to return than Bedard.

• The Blackhawks also announced that the Fifth Third Arena will be rebranded to the Blackhawks Ice Center at the end of January. The new expansion is nearly complete, and it's beautiful. Blackhawks fans will love coming down to enjoy the latest amenities, including the USG Arena, the Chicago Steel's new home. The Steel revealed their new logo for their inaugural season in the city proper, which begins next fall.

• On this date in 1968, Bobby Hull became the fourth player in NHL history to score 400 goals by finding the back of the net twice in a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins.

• In 1987, Al Secord scored four goals in a span of 8:24 of the second period to lead the Blackhawks to a 6-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 7: Benny Woit, Rod Buskas, and Brent Sopel.

NHL Chirps

• Brad Marchand had a very interesting meeting with the Toronto media ahead of last night’s game between the Florida Panthers and Maple Leafs. He revealed that had he not re-signed with the Panthers, the Maple Leafs were the other team he was considering playing for. He then got in a dig by saying it was unfortunate that the fans ran Mitch Marner out of town.

• Before the game, the Maple Leafs paid tribute to Bob Pulford. Toronto went on to win 4-1. Marchand never came out for the third period after a hit by Bobby McMann.

• Kiefer Sherwood’s name has been circulated through the rumor mills for much of this season. However, according to Rick Dhaliwal, the Canucks have offered him a four or five-year contract extension worth over $4 million per season.

• Rangers goaltender reportedly avoided a serious injury, but he was still placed on injured reserve yesterday. The team also moved defenseman Adam Fox to long-term injured reserve, who is expected to miss at least another month.

• Trevor Zegras played his former team, the Anaheim Ducks, for the first time since being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers last night. He scored his team’s first two goals in a 5-2 win, then gave this awesome and honest postgame interview.

• NHL Birthday Roll, Jan. 7: Hooley Smith, Babe Pratt, Bill Fairbairn, Mike Luit, Randy Burridge, Guy Hebert, Denny Lambert, Donald Brashear, Erik Gudbranson, MacKenzie Weegar, Alex Nedeljkovic, and Noah Dobson.