Connor Bedard speaks on his recovery, as he and the Blackhawks are both grinding their way back

The Chicago Blackhawks practice included a new development. Although Connor Bedard had been skating with the team non-contact, today (Oct. 11) was the first day he practiced without the non-contact jersey.

He spoke to the media today, and while he is taking a step further in his recovery, his team is also focusing on their next steps after a 1-5 start, which included a tough 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes the night before.

Sights from the ice

As previously mentioned, Bedard was skating in a regular jersey. Another thing was that Nick Lardis was an extra forward with Bedard in the lineup.

However, those lineups are likely to keep changing during practice as Bedard continues to skate with them, and with Toninato on the roster as well.

Notes from Bedard

I usually include "Notes from the coach" here, but instead will switch this installment over to Bedard.

He doesn't have a concrete return date, saying, "There's no (real) official date or anything, but obviously, [a] good step today to be able to practice with the team and obviously feel contact and be in battle drills, five-on-five, (everything) like that. So I felt really good, and kind of talk the doctors here soon and obviously find a game."

Head coach Jeff Blashill also said about Bedard's timeline, "He's obviously inching closer in the sense that he was more involved in practice, taking more stuff. So he'll have an appointment here at some point this week. I don't think we have the date exactly dialed in yet, but some point this week. And then have a further update from there. But certainly inching closer to being more involved in a lot of different ways."

Bedard said about how he is feeling, "I feel good. I think the first little bit, obviously, I was off the ice for around two months. So, it takes a couple weeks to kind of get your hands and stuff back, and trying to get your cardio back is the biggest thing right away. But I feel pretty good. It's nice to get some game-like reps today and going forward here to wrap that up. And I feel really good. You know, I feel pretty normal for the most part. It's obviously on kind of everyone that knows to let me play."

He also noted, "I think it's almost more frustrating near the end of it than the start of it. At the start of it, you're kind of just like, 'I can't even move my arm', so there's nothing I could really do. But once again, like I said, I feel normal. I feel like myself. Shoot the puck, everything. So, you know, you want to play. I wanted to play game one, but obviously you want to be safe, as well. And we're working with a lot of great people, and coming in every day and grinding, trying to get it back as soon as possible. So, once they feel like it's in a good spot, then I'll be back out there."

As he is grinding to return, he sees his teammates doing the same. He said about watching the first six games, "It's always tough when you're sitting on the sideline and not able to be out there. But I think, obviously, the record hasn't shown. But I think we've been growing and doing a lot of good things, and it's never been a question of effort. We're in here every day grinding, and I think there's a lot of good things, like I said. The results haven't been there yet, but they will be."

Bedard looks and sounds like he is getting stronger every day, and that is great news for his recovery.

Player quote(s) of the day

I spoke with defenseman Bowen Byram at practice, and he mentioned the team's response coming into practice today,

"I think we had a good meeting in the morning. We were honest with each other. Blash (Blashill) was honest with us, and you have to have those conversations to gain traction and move forward. But I think our practice had a different type of intensity today than its had in the past, and that's important, you know? You have to practice hard and practice fast if you want to do so in the game. Like we've been talking about- it's a work in progress, and we just got to keep taking baby steps."

Toninato also discussed what he saw: "We got to work today. Guys battled, guys competed, pushed each other, and like I said, I think we got better today and hopefully keep building."

The Blackhawks can't dwell on their 1-5 start. They have to keep moving forward and focus on their next game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 13.

With Byram and Toninato mentioning putting in the work at practice; as they say, small steps can make a big difference.

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