Yet another bleak night for the Chicago Blackhawks. With a 3-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, Chicago marked their eighth loss in 11 games! Despite Spencer Knight’s valiant 18-save effort, the Connor Bedard and Co. couldn’t break through, even with a golden opportunity during a two-man advantage in the second period. And the game just epitomized their painful season of missed chances, frustration, and a looming sense of defeat!

But it wasn’t just the defeat that left fans fuming. There was one specific moment that ignited a firestorm of anger. It was how Connor Bedard was treated.

Gino Hard on X revealed the moment. Their post captioned, “Connor Bedard took a cross-check to the back… then immediately ate a slap shot to the neck,” sparking outrage! Fans, already frustrated with the team’s struggles, rallied behind the young star, furious at the lack of protection from the referees. Many felt Bedard was being unfairly targeted, yet officials did nothing to intervene.

This moment for the Avalanche was more like proving their dominance. With five straight wins, a red-hot roster bolstered by key trade moves, and Val Nichushkin’s return, the Avs were in full playoff mode! And Nathan MacKinnon’s 100th point of the season was just another addition! For them, taking down the struggling Blackhawks in the game was another step in their unstoppable run. But while the Avs executed their game plan flawlessly, their relentless physicality raised eyebrows! Especially in the way their players treated Bedard.

They gave him a brutal cross-check and a slap shot on the neck! While the Avalanche celebrated their sixth straight victory, the controversy surrounding Bedard’s mistreatment cast a shadow over the win, leaving many questioning where the line is drawn between tough hockey and outright targeting. There was anger and frustration among NHL fans. One of them even directly pointed at the authorities by writing, “At what point do we call this what it is? Bedard is getting targeted HARD, and the refs are just watching.”

Connor Bedard shouldn’t be in Chicago!

The fallout from the rough night only intensified with more fans expressing their anger on the internet. “Get this poor kid out of Chicago,” one fan pleaded, stating that Bedard deserves better than the constant struggles he is facing this season. Another one added to the first one’s desires by expressing, “SOMEBODY BRING THIS KID HOME TO VAN AND GET HIM OUT OF CHICAGO.” Now, this feels like yelling until your lungs are out!

Looking at the fueling speculation of the young star’s future, one believes, “This has literally been his season. Got a feeling he’s not gonna be a Lifer there in Chicago.” Perhaps they are highlighting the repeated instances where Bedard has been on the receiving end of brutal hits! After all, this is not the first time Bedard has been on the receiving end of some cynical foul play. On January 5, his game against the New Jersey Devils came to an end in the first period itself after an open-ice hit by Brendan Smith had him holding his mouth in pain.

And then finally comes the Avs role in all of this, when one fan brutally wrote, “Avs are dirty.”  This was a blunt statement, reflecting the outrage over how aggressively Bedard was treated on the ice!

There’s no doubt that the Avs dominated the game and showcased their playoff. With toughness and full power, they secured a good win. However, the incidents that occurred made the line between hard-nosed hockey and outright targeting blurred. The question now is—how much more of this can Bedard take before something changes?