{"id":502001,"date":"2026-03-03T22:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/502001\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T22:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:11:13","slug":"blackhawks-player-poll-results-connor-bedards-chirps-tyler-bertuzzis-style-and-more-roasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/502001\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackhawks player poll results: Connor Bedard\u2019s chirps, Tyler Bertuzzi\u2019s style and more roasting"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Blackhawks\u2019 dressing room could look quite a bit different by the end of this week, as the March 6 NHL trade deadline looms large. While it\u2019s an exciting time for fans and general managers, it\u2019s a fraught time for players. Those who get traded have their lives upturned, and those who remain behind have to watch their friends \u2014 such as Connor Murphy, who was traded<\/a> before this story was published \u2014 walk out the door, likely never to return.<\/p>\n

Before the deadline, we wanted to get the pulse of this locker room, a team that\u2019s had its ups and downs but has been more competitive than expected and seems to genuinely enjoy its time together in the room and on the ice.<\/p>\n

We polled 20 Blackhawks on a variety of topics and had them dish on \u2014 and dig at \u2014 their teammates. Here are the results.<\/p>\n

(Note: We opted to keep quotes and mentions of Murphy in this story even though he\u2019s no longer with the Blackhawks.)<\/p>\n

Most superstitious\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even Donato knew where this one was going.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to guess and say that 99 percent of the guys said me,\u201d he said. \u201cSorry, I like to say a couple prayers before games.\u201d<\/p>\n

To hear his teammates tell it, Donato\u2019s pregame routine goes far beyond a couple of prayers. Not that anyone will divulge any specifics. That stuff is sacrosanct in the locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have time to go through every little superstition that he\u2019s got,\u201d Jason Dickinson said. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has just a hyper-focused routine,\u201d Connor Murphy said. \u201cIt\u2019s very detailed and long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leave it to the loquacious Teuvo Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen to put it best.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis game day routines are weird,\u201d Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen said.<\/p>\n

Donato was one of the two players who picked Bedard. It\u2019s one of those \u201ctakes one to know one\u201d deals. Interestingly enough, when we did this poll toward the end of Bedard\u2019s rookie season, he got 11 votes to Donato\u2019s seven.<\/p>\n

\u201cBedsy is sneaky,\u201d Donato said. \u201cHe pretends like he\u2019s not superstitious. But he does some things I catch because I\u2019m a superstitious guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Matt Grzelcyk was voted \u201cbest dressed\u201d by his teammates. (Steve Babineau \/ NHLI via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Best dressed<\/p>\n

(Note: Not all Blackhawks players polled answered all of our questions.)<\/p>\n

Players are no longer required to wear suits to and from the rink every day, so you see a lot more casual sweaters, hoodies and the like. Artyom Levshunov, for one, seems to enjoy dressing down. But some guys still put more thought into their appearance than others.<\/p>\n

Consider the captain unimpressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cS\u2014, no one\u2019s really well dressed on this team,\u201d Nick Foligno said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to lie to you. There\u2019s not one guy (to whom) I\u2019d go, \u2018He\u2019s well dressed.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

So, you can understand why the votes for Foligno were given somewhat grudgingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate to give it to Fliggy, but he dresses well,\u201d Dickinson said.<\/p>\n

Murphy is usually a perennial contender in this category but slipped to just one vote this time around.<\/p>\n

\u201cMurph is classy, and I like that he mixes in some casual outfits, looks professional, sometimes will mix in some suits at home,\u201d Donato said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a plethora of suits.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a tiebreaker between the two leaders, Knight picked Grzelcyk.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Tyler Bertuzzi, on the other hand, was voted \u201cworst dressed.\u201d (Michael Mooney \/ NHLI via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Worst dressed<\/p>\n

This question always makes the guys nervous. Kevin Korchinski was a runaway \u201cwinner\u201d in 2024, leaving him \u201cbummed out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m going to be a leading candidate,\u201d Crevier said.<\/p>\n

Bertuzzi got multiple votes in best and worst but easily took this category. His style can best be described as rugged casual, to put it kindly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just ugly,\u201d Foligno said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say what I want to say because it\u2019ll probably be offensive. But it\u2019s just ugly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knight disagreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think some people would say Bert, but Bert has his own style that he rocks,\u201d Knight said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis style, some guys like it, some don\u2019t,\u201d Bertuzzi shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore picked Nazar, noting that he pretty much wears \u201cteam gitch\u201d most of the time.<\/p>\n

Levshunov was diplomatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we have a worst dresser,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone tries to look good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most likely to be a future coach<\/p>\n

No surprise that Foligno took this category, given his very vocal presence in the locker room and on the bench. Also, he\u2019s closest to retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to say Foligno,\u201d Burakovsky said. \u201cHe\u2019s the oldest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy\u2019s dad, Gord Murphy, spent 18 seasons as an NHL assistant coach, so it\u2019s in his blood.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust his demeanor,\u201d Grzelcyk said. \u201cHe knows the game real well. I think he\u2019s just really knowledgeable. He\u2019s got a good personality. He can kind of manage different personalities at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most likely to be a future GM\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bedard is a full-blown hockey nerd, and his teammates have noticed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just loves hockey,\u201d Grzelcyk said. \u201cObviously, he\u2019s going to have a really long career. He\u2019ll go through so many different experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore\u2019s bar was a little lower.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about it, he\u2019s smart,\u201d Moore said of Bedard. \u201cHe knows the rules and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slaggert thought Bedard would go back and run a team in his beloved Western Hockey League when all is said and done.<\/p>\n

Murphy got a ringing endorsement from Knight.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very cerebral,\u201d Knight said. \u201cHe thinks systems really well. I think he thinks personnel. You can tell he has that sort of mindset. He just has the personality that suits someone who oversees the team in structure and (sets up) the team for success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most likely to be a future broadcaster<\/p>\n

Yeah, yeah, Foligno again, we get it. But \u2026 Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he would love to,\u201d Bedard said.<\/p>\n

OK, maybe some guys weren\u2019t taking this exercise all that seriously.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the chattier Blackhawks garnered most of the votes.<\/p>\n

Vlasic picked Nazar: \u201cHe\u2019s just talkative. He does well in front of the team. I think that\u2019d suit him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burakovsky on Nazar: \u201cHe just talks all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arvid S\u00f6derblom picked Foligno: \u201cHe likes to talk a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bertuzzi on Dickinson: \u201cHe\u2019s just a good talker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donato on Moore: \u201cVery talkative, loves hockey. Can\u2019t get enough of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who doesn\u2019t get enough credit for their role on this team?<\/p>\n

This list could look a lot different on the evening of March 6, once the trade deadline passes.<\/p>\n

Mikheyev isn\u2019t the flashiest Blackhawks player, but he might be the most appreciated within the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cBest penalty killer in the league,\u201d Bedard said. \u201cHe would suck to play against.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Ryan Greene: \u201cJust the best penalty killer in the league. So hard to play against, so fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Vlasic: \u201cHe\u2019s the best penalty-killing forward in the league, works his ass off every single day. He\u2019s not lighting up the scoresheet, but we wouldn\u2019t be where we are without him, I don\u2019t think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defensive defensemen don\u2019t get a lot of love from the outside world, either, but Murphy gets plenty from his teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cA guy who is always in the trenches and doing the right thing, being a pro, showing up ready to practice hard,\u201d Donato said. \u201cBut also doing all the things people hate doing, like blocking shots and being unselfish at times, and putting the team\u2019s needs above his own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grzelcyk singled out Dach, a bottom-six grinder who\u2019s tried to carve out a niche as a physical force.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially as a young guy, he\u2019s willing to do whatever it takes, whether he has to step in and fight or recognize situations where he can be physical,\u201d Grzelcyk said. \u201cAlso, he\u2019s got underrated skill. He does a lot of different jobs.\u201c<\/p>\n

Slaggert, who knows what it\u2019s like to be a healthy scratch, threw some laurels Lafferty\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe pushes everyone to be better on the ice,\u201d Slaggert said. \u201cAlways has a smile on his face, no matter what the situation may be. He puts his best foot forward. It\u2019s honestly inspiring and impressive. He\u2019s been a great resource for me to lean on this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Connor Bedard\u2019s chirps have impressed his teammates. (Michael Reaves \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Best chirper<\/p>\n

Now in his third season in the league, Bedard seems to be feeling himself on the ice. And not just with the puck on his stick.<\/p>\n

\u201cBedsy\u2019s actually got some good ones,\u201d Lafferty said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel like his play can back up the chirping,\u201d Vlasic said. \u201cI can\u2019t say the same for myself.\u201c<\/p>\n

As much as Bertuzzi loathes talking to the media, he seems to love talking on the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just keeps going all the time,\u201d Burakovsky said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gets in my ear quite a bit,\u201d Slaggert said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if he chirps other teams as much, but definitely us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s talking a lot during the games and trying to get under the opponents\u2019 skin,\u201d S\u00f6derblom said.<\/p>\n

Once again, color Foligno \u2014 a relic of a different time, when the game was a little less, let\u2019s say, gentlemanly \u2014 unimpressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my God, we have terrible chirpers on our team,\u201d he said. \u201cDach\u2019s pretty funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most obnoxious in the group chat<\/p>\n

One thing is clear from this year\u2019s poll: If this truly is the end of Foligno\u2019s Blackhawks career, the locker room will be fundamentally different next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not obnoxious, but he\u2019s probably the most active in the group chat,\u201d Knight said of the captain. \u201cHe\u2019s like our team-services guy. He\u2019s always coordinating things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickiest eater<\/p>\n

Alas, we didn\u2019t get a lot of specifics on this one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had dinner with (Slaggert) a few times,\u201d Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t like his salad and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to branch out,\u201d Slaggert said. \u201cI\u2019m working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most pure athlete<\/p>\n

Lafferty downplayed this one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m OK,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bedard disagreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnbelievable at everything,\u201d he said of Lafferty.<\/p>\n

Crevier\u2019s sheer size won Murphy\u2019s vote, but Burakovsky hasn\u2019t seen much that\u2019s impressed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only sports I\u2019ve seen guys play is hockey and soccer,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s not a lot of good soccer players in here, I\u2019ll tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last person you want in charge of the team music<\/p>\n

Anecdotally, as reporters, particularly during Spotify Wrapped season, it seems Nazar is the most current when it comes to new music. But his teammates find the variety a little lacking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d just be straight rap,\u201d Bedard said of Nazar. \u201cWhich is fine, but I think guys would get annoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levshunov\u2019s win here seemed to be predicated on curiosity more than experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to hear what Arty would have to put on the music,\u201d Knight said. \u201cI\u2019ve never heard his music, but I would love to (know) what he would have. I\u2019m always intrigued by that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Greene: \u201cI guess Arty, because he\u2019d play some Russian stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lafferty has just one ground rule: \u201c(I\u2019d pick) whoever\u2019s going to play metal. That\u2019s the only thing that\u2019s off limits for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Jason Dickinson, left, chats with Ryan Donato during a warmup. (Michael Reaves \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Who\u2019d score the highest on an IQ test?<\/p>\n

This has got to be a tough loss for Lafferty and Donato, who put in a combined seven years at Brown and Harvard, respectively. Dickinson might not have the college background, but anyone who\u2019s spoken to him knows how thoughtful and analytically minded he is. Put it this way: If he is indeed traded, it\u2019ll be a serious blow to Blackhawks beat reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t go to school, but I think (it\u2019s) his overall intelligence,\u201d Knight said.<\/p>\n

Lafferty picked Knight, saying he\u2019s \u201cprobably off the charts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donato took a few strays on this one. That Harvard background is like having a crimson target on your back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope it would be Donato because he went to Harvard,\u201d Burakovsky said. \u201cBut he\u2019s not super street-smart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cF\u2014ing Donny went to Ivy League, didn\u2019t he?\u201d Dickinson said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say Donny and give him his flowers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Nick Foligno, left, has fought three times this season, according to hockeyfights.com. (Megan Briggs \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Who would you least want to fight?<\/p>\n

Finally, Foligno gets a win that\u2019s not half-snark. The man can throw hands.<\/p>\n

And he wants to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to fight everyone on this team,\u201d he said, echoing his sentiments from the 2024 poll. \u201cSo there\u2019s not one person I wouldn\u2019t want to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crevier gives Zdeno Chara vibes, and nobody ever wanted to fight Chara, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just enormous,\u201d Donato said. \u201cYou\u2019re not getting close to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love it if Crevs got into more fights,\u201d Knight said. \u201cI think Crevs would be the scariest just with how sheer big he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levshunov got a vote from Lafferty, who called him \u201cfreakishly strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he got angry at me, it could be a problem,\u201d Lafferty said.<\/p>\n

But Levshunov just wants everybody to love everybody.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like my teammates, actually,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to fight my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Blackhawks\u2019 dressing room could look quite a bit different by the end of this week, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4824,385,99],"class_list":["post-502001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}