Connor Bedard Should be Patient with his Injury

When the news broke that Connor Bedard's injury timeframe could be between 6-8 weeks I quickly looked at the calender. I thought OK so best case scenario is a February 21st home game return and he will definitely miss the All-Star game in Toronto (February 3rd).

Well maybe not so fast. As we know, Connor Bedard loves hockey and he really doesn't want to be off the ice any longer than he has to. Per Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports, he had this quote from GM Kyle Davidson:

While that seems like a step in the right direction, it went even more into the realm of possibilities that Bedard was on the road to recovery when listening to Nick Foligno's interview during last nights game. During the time he spent talking with Darren Pang and Chris Vosters on air he made it sound like Bedard was just itching to go and that he felt healthy. While that's all fine and good, obviously the long game here should be considered at all times. Ben Pope of the Suntimes has this quote from Davidson on what that means in terms of a safe recovery timeframe:

From my perspective this all seems right in line from 3 completely different points of view: 1. The 18 year old player that just wants to return immediately. 2. The 36 year old veteran who has seen it all before. 3. The newly minted General Manager that is protecting his franchise player

Anyway you look at it, while it may be selfish to see Connor Bedard back on the ice sooner rather later, the play here is to take the necessary prescribed time to heal. That means February 21st at the earliest and missing the All-Star game...... and that's OK with me as the Blackhawks are no where near contention at this point of the season.