Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday. This week compares Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard to a Windy City record breaker of yesteryear, Bill Mosienko.
The scouting report delivered about Connor Bedard this year could well have been written about Bill Mosienko 80 years ago. That's when "Wee Willie" starred for the Chicago Black Hawks on "The Pony Line" with brothers Max Bentley and Doug Bentley.
"He has a dazzling skill set and compete level."
At age 19, Bedard is inspiring headlines much like Mosienko, a Hockey Hall of Famer at a relatively small 5-foot-8, 160 pounds. The current Blackhawks forward is 5-10, 185. Both blend clean hockey with extraordinary talent.
Mosienko won the Lady Byng Trophy in 1945, given "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability," selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The way Bedard plays the game, he could someday be a Lady Byng winner and perhaps more. His NHL career-high nine-game point streak ended in Chicago's 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at United Center on Saturday, becoming the first Canada-born teenager in more than a decade to accomplish that feat.
"I mean it's not rocket science," he said in an NHL.com story published Jan. 4. "It's all hockey."
The Hockey News hailed Bedard as "The Greatest Connor Since 2015" when he began his rookie season of 2023-24. It was a laudable reference to Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, now regarded as the greatest thing since Wayne Gretzky. McDavid led the Hockey News' most recent "Top 50 NHL Players" list. Despite a rookie season marred by a broken jaw that cost him 14 games, Bedard made the list by finishing 49th, one ahead of likely Hall of Famer Steven Stamkos.
"Bedard doesn't have to worry about a sophomore slump," The Hockey News predicted.
Despite winning the 2024 Calder Trophy voted as NHL rookie of the year, Bedard found himself skating in potholes early this season. The insulting words "flash in the pan" were bruited about while the Blackhawks dropped in the standings along with his confidence.
"You go out there, your hands don't feel right, you're tired or whatever," Bedard said.
It was a time when the kid needed support. He got it from veteran teammate Nick Foligno.
"I told him as much as everyone wants to build you up, there are many people who want to see you fail," the Blackhawks captain told ESPN.com before the Discover NHL Winter Classic, a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field on Dec. 31. "It's sad but that's the world we live in. What matters is that everyone in this room wants you to do well."
So did the Blackhawks high command led by chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz and general manager Kyle Davidson. They fired coach Luke Richardson on Dec. 5 and replaced him with Anders Sorenson. It was like flicking a switch.
"He talks to me a lot 1-on-1 with advice," Bedard said of Sorenson, "little things and how I can get the puck in our system and where to be that's going to produce offense for myself and hopefully translate to production on the score sheet. It's just really about getting to spots where I can get the puck."
Bedard had 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in the first 26 games of his second NHL season, far from his 61 (22 goals, 39 assists) in 68 games as a rookie for the Blackhawks, whose 178 goals were fewest in the League.
"After all the talk about Bedard 'struggling,' he had 19 points over 17 games and is on pace for a 75-point season," wrote Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons. "If that's a 19-year-old 'struggling,' we should all hope to struggle one day."
Bedard has accepted the challenge.
"The kid is only 19 and he's just under a point-per-game player and somehow, he's 'broken,'" Davidson said in remarks published by ESPN.com. "Nobody seems to want to see how things play out."
Bedard's perseverance was evident last season. A week after his jaw was repaired, he convinced trainers to allow him to skate.
"I was dying to get back," he explained. He even pushed Davidson to speed up the healing process and the GM shot back. "I'd give you my jaw if I could."
When Mosienko broke his leg in the first NHL All-Star Game at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on Oct. 13, 1947, it traumatized the team's front office, fearful that he would miss the entire season. General manager Bill Tobin had to make an extraordinary move, and it was rare.
"My injury led to one of the NHL's biggest trades (Nov. 2, 1947)," Mosienko said. "We gave up our top scorer, Max Bentley -- my center -- for Bud Poile, Gaye Stewart and Gus Bodnar -- an entire line -- and defensemen Bob Goldham and Ernie Dickens."
Even without Bentley, Mosienko grew stronger. He played the entire 70-game season in 1951-52, scoring 31 goals with 22 assists for 52 points. In the very last game of the season, Wee Willie pulled off a remarkable feat at old Madison Square Garden on March 23. He scored three goals in 21 seconds, a record that never has been challenged.
All things considered, the "do more" demands heaped on Berard were felt by Mosienko, including on that night. The moment after he scored his third goal, "Mosie" again broke free and beat New York Rangers goalie Lorne Anderson. At first it appeared to be a fourth in about 30 seconds, but the puck caromed harmlessly off the left post.
After an exhausted Mosienko returned to the bench, coach Ebbie Goodfellow yelled, "What's the matter, Willie?" Then a pause and a grin: "Are you in a slump?"
