Blackhawks’ Bedard and Nazar Embracing Roles as Leaders

Bedard has notched two goals and five assists. Nazar has scored three goals and four assists. You can’t complain about a point-per-game pace, especially since they are 20 and 21 years old, respectively, facing opponents’ top players every night.

However, their contributions have gone beyond tallying points. Bedard has looked like an entirely different player to start the season: faster, stronger, and meaner. His tenacity and engagement have raised the team’s compete level, and teammates like Nazar have noted as much.

Honestly, I think it helps us, it gets us engaged and into the game.

Nazar hasn’t shied away from the mix himself. Most notably, he scored a beautiful goal against the St. Louis Blues and started a brawl in the process, as seen in the clip below.

Nazar has swagger. The Blackhawks have needed that confidence, and with Nazar and Bedard firing on these cylinders, the team is following suit.

Leadership Off the Ice Just as Important

That Bedard and Nazar have established themselves as the two new faces of the Blackhawks struck everyone most apparently during a post-game interview. Both sat on the bench after pummeling the Blues 8-3, Bedard displaying his slightly more serious demeanor while Nazar brought some levity.

Regardless, each reiterated the same sentiment: this season will be different for the Blackhawks.

Bedard made that clear when he told Henrik Lundqvist, “We’re young, like you said. We’re fast. We’re going to play with energy. We’re competitive. We want to win. We don’t want to win in three years. We want to win now.”

Nazar nodded along as he heard Bedard answer, signaling that this mentality is the standard for every player in the locker room. And both players have taken it upon themselves to embody that approach.

As cliche as it is to say, leaders need to walk the walk and talk the talk. Bedard and Nazar are doing more talking with their play than their actual words, but they aren’t hiding the fact that they, and the entire team, know that a higher bar must be established for this rebuild to progress.

Did anyone think both Bedard and Nazar would display such maturity this soon?

A Leadership Duo the Blackhawks Need

The Blackhawks have plenty of room to improve. No one is expecting them to make the playoffs (though they do own the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, don’t look now!). There will be tests, and there will be lows.

But the atmosphere around this team, and the product on the ice, prove that the players refuse to be complacent.

Bedard and Nazar have taken it upon themselves to set the tone, as true leaders do. As they raise their games to new levels, the team’s confidence will rise, until they realize, as the legendary coach Herb Brooks said, “We can beat these guys!”