{"id":299618,"date":"2025-11-21T16:28:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/299618\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T16:28:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:28:07","slug":"chicago-blackhawks-fired-up-over-officiating-after-connor-bedards-costly-unsportsmanlike-penalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/299618\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Blackhawks fired up over officiating after Connor Bedard\u2019s costly unsportsmanlike penalty"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> feel they\u2019ve had a rough week of officiating and let it be known after Thursday\u2019s 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s game turned late in the third period, when\u00a0star Blackhawks\u00a0forward Connor Bedard<\/a> appeared to be hooked on a breakaway with the game 2-2. Kraken defenceman Ryan Lindgren<\/a>\u00a0wasn\u2019t penalized on the play, and Bedard let the official have it, picking up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.<\/p>\n

Seattle scored late in the power play, taking the lead with just over two minutes left and holding on to it from there.<\/p>\n

Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill sounded off on both the non-call and the penalty to Bedard postgame.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you don\u2019t have position on a guy, you put your stick in there and you hit his glove, which\u00a0[Lindgren]\u00a0did. Yes, he got the stick after, but the first contact was on his glove. It\u2019s a penalty,\u201d Blashill said, per The Athletic. \u201cThen, you know, I don\u2019t know what was said. It better have been really, really, really, really personal to be that sensitive about it because you\u2019re deciding games.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, if it was super personal, I wasn\u2019t there. I don\u2019t know, but it better have been really, really, really personal if you\u2019re not going to have enough thick skin to just keep playing through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor Bedard’s unsportsmanlike penalty leads to Blackhawks\u2019 loss: ‘It better have been really personal’ <\/p>\n

My story from last night \u2935\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/Fi79Qr0c4y<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) November 21, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Bedard declined to reveal what he told the referee, but called on himself to better control his emotions.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in the end, we\u2019re professionals,\u201d Bedard said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to have a better response there when that doesn\u2019t go my way. Just learn from it and don\u2019t let it happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t take a penalty there; he knows that. He\u2019s already said that. So, I get that and we\u2019ll handle that internally,\u201d Blashill added. \u201cAgain, I just think that\u2019s a big call at that moment. It better have been really personal. I think sometimes in the heat of action, things happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know why Connor\u2019s upset. He\u2019s got a breakaway, and someone takes a penalty on him. [It] doesn\u2019t excuse him taking a penalty. I think there are times, whatever, just walk away. Both ways, both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

The frustration with the officials appeared to boil over from another non-call on Lindgren in the first period, when he caught Andre Burakovsky<\/a> with a high hit as the Blackhawks forward jumped up for the puck. Burakovsky lost his helmet on the play, skated to the bench and did not return.<\/p>\n

That came on the heels of a unpenalized high hit on defenceman Connor Murphy<\/a> in Tuesday\u2019s win over the Calgary Flames<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s back-to-back games, guys going right to the head, and nothing really happens,\u201d Bedard said. \u201cI think that sucks. He\u2019s a great player. It\u2019s bulls—.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, he doesn\u2019t have the puck and he gets hit square in the head,\u201d added Blashill of the hit on Burakovsky. \u201cOf all the stuff that was called tonight, he doesn\u2019t have the puck. He never had the puck. He had the puck up in the air. I mean, if you pass that puck and started his pass, I get it. The puck\u2019s up in the air, he doesn\u2019t have the puck, it\u2019s not even close to him, and he gets hit directly in the head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burakovsky was ruled out of Friday\u2019s game against the Buffalo Sabres<\/a> after the loss, while Murphy was back in the lineup against the Kraken. <\/p>\n

Bedard finished without a point in Thursday\u2019s loss but continues to enjoy a strong start to the campaign with 13 goals and 29 points in 20 games. <\/p>\n

The Blackhawks are in the thick of the early playoff picture with a 10-6-4 record through 20 games. <\/p>\n