“I don’t think it was too crazy, but he’s the ref, so he gets to make that call…” said Connor Bedard after earning the first misconduct penalty of his career. And less than a week later, the 19-year-old phenom has already recorded his second. While the first one was given to him for “abuse of officials”, this one was different.

Bedard, whom CHSN analysts called “mild-mannered” isn’t one to get into too many scuffles. Yet, that changed, the Hawks center became one of the four individuals to earn misconduct penalties during the Blackhawks’ 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. And as the young player threw down his helmet while walking off to the dressing room out of frustration, the analysts had a lot to say.

In the aftermath of Connor Bedard’s back-to-back dismissals, The Chicago Lead analysts asked a crucial question: “Is this more so a Bedard issue or an official issue? Because I’m trying to make it make sense,” said one among the trio of CHSN analysts. However, none of them had the answer. “I don’t know what is going on with the disrespect in the NHL for Conor Bedard,” responded the co-host.

Things boiled over during the Canucks match when Jason Dickinson hit Vancouver forward Filip Chytil from behind. The officials didn’t call the infraction, and so with less than three minutes left in the third, a scuffle broke out between Bedard and some Canucks players behind the Vancouver net. This time the officials handed 10-minute penalties to Bedard, Frank Nazar, and Canucks players Conor Garland, and Filip Hronek.

This wasn’t the first time Bedard found himself in a similar situation. The analysts recalled Colorado Avalanche’s Ryan Lindgren cross-checking Connor Bedard in Colorado. “I’d be frustrated too. He’s 19 years old. He’s barely raised his voice in two years in Chicago,” added the analyst in defense of Bedard. However, coach Anders Sorensen shrugged off any worries.

Is this just a rough patch for Connor Bedard?

Throwing his helmet down in the tunnel seemed like quite an extreme reaction coming from Bedard. Yet, the North Vancouver native quickly regained his composure, returning to apologize to Blackhawks staff. After all, this isn’t the outcome the sophomore NHL pro had envisioned after his March 14 penalty under Rule 39 – Abuse of Officials.

Although Connor Bedard himself wasn’t able to recall what he said, the ice hockey star explained that he needed to watch out. “I gotta be smarter with my words there. I’m supposed to deal in the situation,” the Chicago Blackhawks star said in a locker room interview. NHL insider Frank Servalli had said something similar.

“He needs to be smarter, and he needs to keep his emotions in check better,” said the analyst. So something like this happening in the very next game wasn’t ideal. However, the Blackhawks’ interim head coach Anders Sorensen saw it differently. While Bedard is having a rollercoaster season, the coach believes it’s temporary.

The Swedish coach gave examples of NHL icons who also landed on rough patches early in their careers. “I remember Sidney Crosby went through that a lot. I remember Peter Forsberg came into the league mild-mannered off the ice, but on the ice, it happens, right?” explained the coach. Yet, what do you think about Connor Bedard’s recent troubles?