Chicago Blackhawks captain Connor Bedard was highly critical of his club's performance and season to date following Saturday's 9-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
"It's embarrassing to lose like that," Bedard said, per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. "Especially when we leave our goalies out to dry like that. They battle for us. It's hard. Any guy would say the same. Tonight was tough. It's 9-2. It's not rocket science; it's not good enough, and we know that."
The Blackhawks, who are 4-13-1 on the season, have one win in their past 10 games. Chicago has finished 31st in the league standings in each of Bedard's three NHL seasons dating back to 2023, when the team drafted him first overall.
"There's frustration all the time," Bedard said, according to The Athletic's Mark Lazerus. "When you're waking up, when you're going to bed, you're thinking about the record and the hole that we're in.
"What we've been able to do really well is every practice, every pregame skate, every lunch, dinner, every time we hang out, we still have that camaraderie and have that joy to be at the rink. But at the end of the day, it's a results league, and we've got to be better. There's nothing else to it."
After beginning the season injured, Bedard is up to 14 points in 12 games following Saturday's shellacking. He signed a five-year, $75-million extension with the Blackhawks in July before being named captain in September.
