Connor Bedard reflects on the Blackhawks season that was, not what might have been

SAN JOSE, Calif. — At the moment Connor Bedard jammed his shoulder during a physical faceoff with Brayden Schenn in the final second of a Dec. 12 contest in St. Louis, he was indisputably one of the very best hockey players on the planet.Through his first 31 games, he trailed only Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov in points per game. Just as notable, however, was how he stacked up against the young man against whom he’ll likely forever be measured: San Jose wunderkind Macklin Celebrini. The two rising stars were tied for third in the league in points with 44, though Celebrini had played in one more game. They were both a plus-8 despite being on poor defensive teams. They both had a 47 percent success rate at the faceoff dot. They both had their teams within 2 points of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Bedard had four more goals than Celebrini, Celebrini had four more assists than Bedard.Advertisement