Latest news with #ConnorBedard
New York Times
8 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Why the Blackhawks selected Anton Frondell with 2025 NHL Draft's No. 3 pick
The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 NHL Draft. CHICAGO — Marcus Krüger got his wish. The Chicago Blackhawks drafted Anton Frondell, Krüger's Djurgården teammate in Sweden, with the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday. What went into that decision? Let's start with Krüger's evaluation of Frondell. 'He's like the whole package,' Krüger, the former longtime Blackhawks role player and two-time Stanley Cup champion, said in March. 'He's big. He can skate. He can handle the puck, all that. But also he's really, like, curious, like he asks stuff, he tries stuff. So, yeah, he's not going to play with me for very long here. Soon you're going to get a taste of him there.' Advertisement Those are exactly the reasons why the Blackhawks drafted Frondell. They couldn't have summed it up any better. Frondell has the size (6 feet 1 inch, 204 pounds), offensive skill, defensive awareness and ceiling the Blackhawks believe will make him a perfect fit in their top six in the future. With all the players the Blackhawks were considering at No. 3, they envisioned how Frondell could work alongside Connor Bedard and/or Frank Nazar. While it's possible Frondell could replace one of them at center, he can also play on the wing. More importantly, he has the offense, especially his shot, to fit with those players and the size and defense that could help them. Frondell's 25 points in HockeyAllsvenskan were the most by an under-18 player since William Nylander produced 27 points during the 2013-14 season. Djurgården coach Robert Kimby was impressed by how Frondell handled himself as an 18-year-old in a league that includes Krüger and other established Swedish players. 'His matureness as a person and as a hockey player, the way he kind of made up his mind to be as good as he possibly can, I think is his biggest strength,' Kimby said. 'But then on the ice, good vision, for us, an outstanding shot, good enough shot so that we put in him as a shooter in power play. Puck strength, and just the same there, even if he's different as a kid, he wants to be in the heat of the moment. If you look at any player, you see the skill with the stick and everything like that, but for me, it's the small things. He just stands out that he really wants to get better every day when he's on the ice. You kind of almost have to pull him back to save energy sometimes.' Frondell is expected to return to Djurgården next season and focus on consistency on next season. It should help his development that Djurgården was promoted to the SHL for the upcoming season, so the competition will improve. Frondell is likely to come to North America after another season in Sweden, but time will tell. Advertisement Krüger will undoubtedly be excited to have him as a teammate for at least another season. That admiration goes both ways, and Frondell has learned plenty from Krüger. 'OK, so he is starting to get older, he has two Stanley Cups, probably good money in the bank — and that doesn't affect his way how he always wants to get better,' Frondell said of Krüger at the scouting combine. 'He's the first guy in the gym. He's the first guy to the rink every day. It doesn't matter how early I am, I can never win over him. And he doesn't just come to the rink. He comes there to get better. It's just cool, a guy like that still wants to get better.' The Blackhawks are hoping for a different type of career for Frondell than Krüger, but the team goal is still the same. The Blackhawks would love for Frondell to be a part of multiple Stanley Cup teams, too.
CTV News
10 hours ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Brick Invitational bringing top youth hockey players to showcase talent at West Edmonton Mall
Players and organizers said the main goal of the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament is for the young athletes to have fun. Some of North America's most promising young hockey players will be in Edmonton this weekend for the annual Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament. The tournament will celebrate 36 years on Monday, when the opening puck drop takes place at 7:30 a.m. at the West Edmonton Mall Ice Palace. 'The 36 years have gone very fast. The first one is a great memory, and as well as the one last year,' said tournament chair Craig Styles. The week-long competition features 14 youth hockey teams, with players aged nine and 10, from Canada and the U.S. It wraps up on July 6 with the final championship game at noon. Styles said about 82 per cent of kids who play in the invitational go on to play hockey at higher levels, from the Alberta Junior Hockey League to the American Hockey League and the National Hockey League. 'They form a foundation here. More and more in the last 10 or 15 years, we see where the cream has risen to the top at this tournament,' he added. Former invitation players who have gone on to NHL careers include Connor Bedard, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Steven Stamkos. A full schedule, live feeds and up-to-date game results can be found on the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament website.
New York Times
20 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Chicago Blackhawks NHL Draft guide: Picks, best fits and analysis
The Chicago Blackhawks have 10 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft: Nos. 3, 25, 34, 62, 66, 98, 107, 162, 194, 197. Here's what to expect. Chicago has had a lot of picks in recent years and drafted excellent young centers and defensemen. Connor Bedard is a game breaker, but otherwise, a lot of the centers the Blackhawks have picked have been similar with a focus on speed, compete and two-way ability. Center and defense are the hardest positions to find, so I don't fault this strategy, but eventually, they need to find some guys to put the puck in the net. The Blackhawks are set to make their eighth and ninth first-round draft picks in the four years since Kyle Davidson took over as general manager. With the No. 3 pick this year, Davidson is expected to take a forward with size to complement what he already has in his prospect pool. He went with defenseman Artyom Levshunov at No. 2 last year. If the two teams ahead of the Blackhawks pass on Michael Misa on Friday, he probably won't fall any further than the Blackhawks. If he's not there, it likely comes down to Anton Frondell, Caleb Desnoyers or Porter Martone. Advertisement The Blackhawks also have four more picks between 25 and 66. If Chicago goes through with making all those selections, it'll have drafted 26 players in the first three rounds in the last four years. Davidson did use some capital last year to move around the draft and could do so again. The Blackhawks' priority has to be continuing to bolster their forward prospect pool, but it's likely they seek to diversify and add prospect depth at all positions throughout the draft. — Scott Powers, Blackhawks beat reporter In recent mock drafts, Corey Pronman has projected the following picks: 3. Anton Frondell, C 25. Malcolm Spence, LW 34. Mason West, C 62. Stepan Hoch, LW 66. Gustav Hillstrom, C 98. Tomas Pobezal, C 107. Aleksei Medvedev, G 162. Alex Misiak, RW 194. Matthew Koprowski, G 197. Will Sharpe, D (Photo of Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson: Christopher Hanewinckel / USA Today)
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Less is more for Blackhawks' Connor Bedard as he prepares for his third NHL season
No, Connor Bedard hasn't been spending his offseason quietly texting Mitch Marner or Nikolaj Ehlers or any other pending unrestricted free agents and trying to convince them that Chicago is the place to be, trying to orchestrate his own dream line, or anything like that. 'No, I don't have too many guys' numbers yet,' Bedard said with a chuckle. Advertisement If Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson has a quiet summer, if André Burakovsky is indeed the biggest acquisition he makes, Bedard sounds perfectly comfortable with that. He knows Davidson's grand plan, he understands the timetable, and he's on board with all of it. 'I really like my teammates, and I feel like we have a lot of guys that are very skilled, and they're going to step up,' Bedard said in a conversation with The Athletic on Wednesday. 'That's including myself. I have a lot of areas in my game to grow, so that's what my focus is. Whether we bring in guys or don't bring in guys, that's not going to affect us. We're going to go out there and work hard and try to win games.' That's just it. Bedard is too busy worrying about making sure he becomes the player the Blackhawks need him to become to worry about playing general manager, as well. Bedard has scored 45 goals and handed out 83 assists in 150 NHL games — outstanding numbers for a teenager — but is well aware that he's expected to do more. To score more. To win more. And that starts by doing less. Of all the things Bedard has learned over his two NHL seasons, a trial by fire if ever there was one, his latest lesson might be the most important: The guy needs to chill out every once in a while. Take an optional practice off. Skip a morning skate. Get off the ice right when practice ends, not an hour later. Former head coach Luke Richardson used to joke about hiding Bedard's skates just to get him to take a day off, but it seems that a frustrating sophomore campaign has finally driven the message home. Going easy on yourself every now and then isn't a sign of weakness. It's a source of strength. 'It's how you're training, how you're resting,' Bedard said. 'It's your volume, and just figuring out when you can really push and when you can hold back a little bit. Working hard, but also working smart. It's definitely something you learn with the schedule you have during the year. You're always going. So you want to make sure you're feeling good, and take some steps to let your body recover from some workouts. I always work super hard, and always want to be on the ice, and that's kind of what got me here. But figuring out a balance for myself is something that I'm learning to do.' Bedard wouldn't go so far as to say he was fatigued at times last season, but he did have a 12-game goal drought in November, scored just one goal in an 11-game span starting in February, then had an eight-game goal drought before a strong finishing kick in the final week of the campaign. There were significant stretches during which he simply wasn't feeling his best, and it showed in his production levels. Advertisement 'There were some gaps in my game for a couple stretches of the season,' he said. 'Obviously, I'm young and should be pretty fresh, for the most part. I just thought there were a couple times in the year where I wasn't feeling my best, and obviously that's on me to do the right things. I've learned a lot about how I can keep that consistency. Because when I'm at the top of my game, I feel like I'm a pretty impactful player. So if I can be there — or close to there — almost every night, that's going to make a big difference.' That's not to say Bedard is getting lazy, of course. He had to wait a bit in late April and early May for players to return from the playoffs or from Worlds, but he's been on the ice regularly with his Vancouver crew, which includes Macklin Celebrini, Kent Johnson and Mat Barzal, among others. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will join them, too, once he recovers from the Edmonton Oilers' grueling run to the Stanley Cup Final. Bedard said the on-ice sessions can get pretty heated, and sometimes have a game-like feel when everyone's really going and pushing each other. When he is on the ice, Bedard's focus has been on his skating. His goal for his second NHL offseason is to get faster, and to do so without sacrificing the parts of his game that made him one of the most highly touted prospects in league history. In the Western Hockey League, finding open ice was easy, and so was unleashing his world-class shot. In the NHL, finding that room and that time is a lot more difficult. And while he'll never have Connor McDavid's wheels, any extra kick could give him an extra split second to do something special. 'That's where I could gain another level to my game,' he said. 'I think I have a lot of skill and I can think the game at a high level. If I can get maybe an extra step to get away from guys and put guys on their heels a little more, that would be a thing I can add to my game. I feel pretty good about what I've done so far.' Bedard said he doesn't know 'a whole lot' about new head coach Jeff Blashill's playing style, but being faster is good for any system. He had a 'great conversation' with Blashill shortly after the coach was hired, and Blashill was texting him things and players to watch for throughout the playoffs. Bedard said Blashill's excitement about coming to Chicago has been contagious for the players, and that former interim head coach Anders Sörensen returning as an assistant was particularly important. Blashill is Bedard's third head coach in just two-plus seasons. Advertisement Bedard's next great linemate could be joining the organization on Friday night. This is the first draft in three years that Bedard won't be attending, and for the first time in a while, he only knows the names from watching and reading about them, not playing with or against them. Bedard finally turns 20 in a few weeks and will be a third-year NHL veteran in the fall. He's not just a kid anymore, and he hasn't been a prospect for two years. He's the No. 1 center of the Chicago Blackhawks, and he will continue to shoulder a huge burden to keep a very young team afloat offensively. Nothing new there. But maybe a little more time away from the rink will make it a little easier to bear. 'I don't know about being a veteran,' he said with a laugh. 'But getting the full 82 games last year really gives you an idea of everything you need to do to be your best. Coming into the league, you don't really have a great idea of it. But you learn. I'm a couple years in now, and I feel like from Day 1 to now, I know a lot more about the league, and the schedule and everything, and that's pretty nice. When we do go back to camp, I know what to expect.' A few other thoughts from Bedard: On if he's been talking with the Blackhawks about a contract extension, which he can sign as soon as Tuesday: 'I'll keep that pretty close to my chest. We have a great relationship and everyone knows I want to be a Hawk as long as I'm playing. And I know they appreciate me and want me with the team. Once you know that, there's no stress or anything about that. Whether it's done next week or during the year or at the end of the year, that doesn't stress me out too much. Anything can happen, but the relationship with me and the team is really strong.' On if he had any regrets about skipping Worlds once Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon joined Team Canada: 'I was at peace with my decision not to. When you get an opportunity like that, it's hard not to go. I love playing hockey and I knew a lot of guys over there and knew how special that opportunity was, to play for your country. But for me, I felt the best decision to feel the best for next year and put myself in the best position for Oct. 5 or whenever our first game is, was not to go this year. You want to be there, you miss out. But I feel good about the decision, for sure.' On how it might have affected his chances to make Canada's Olympic team: 'I have a good relationship with Hockey Canada. They were really respectful of my decision and understood. If I'm going to have a chance at the Olympic team, I'm going to have to have a pretty good start to the year, whether I went to Worlds or not. So my focus is on the Blackhawks, and if I can play my way onto that team, that'd be unreal. But I am going to have to play my way on.' Advertisement On Frank Nazar's 12-point performance for Team USA: 'It was awesome seeing him and (Alex Vlasic) experience the win. His growth throughout the year was amazing; he was lighting teams up. At the end of the year, he was getting five or six breakaways a game, almost. It'll be pretty fun to see him coming into next year with all that confidence.' On Ryan Donato sticking around: 'That was great. You know how good he was for us last year. He had all the goals and everything, but it's just what he does all over the ice. He's always working, always high energy, and he causes so much havoc out there. Plus all the goals. It's awesome to see him re-sign.' On the Blackhawks' closing 3-1-1 kick, and how it changed the vibe heading into next season: 'When we got younger, we just had that energy, and we were having a lot of fun at the rink. Those last few games, we looked pretty good, and we were playing what we felt was a high-stakes game in Montreal. They were trying to make the playoffs and we could disappoint their fans a bit. Little things like that, and being with such a young group, it's exciting. We can't wait to get back at it.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Hyundai Hope on Wheels donates $250,000 to BC Children's Hospital Foundation to support children facing cancer
Every year in B.C., approximately 130 children are diagnosed with cancer. As the province's only full-service acute-care hospital dedicated to children, BC Children's Hospital delivers highly specialized care to young patients from across B.C. and the Yukon. For its inaugural year in Canada, Hyundai Hope on Wheels is committing over $4 million in 2025 to support paediatric oncology centres across the country, continuing its mission to help end childhood cancer. VANCOUVER, BC, June 25, 2025 /CNW/ - Today, Hyundai Canada, through its charitable foundation Hyundai Hope on Wheels, presented BC Children's Hospital Foundation with a $250,000 donation to support children and youth receiving cancer care in British Columbia. Every year in B.C., approximately 130 children are diagnosed with cancer. As the province's only full-service acute-care hospital dedicated to children, BC Children's Hospital delivers highly specialized care to young patients from across B.C. and the Yukon. Its oncology team provides comprehensive care for children with cancer, treating hundreds of patients each year with compassion, innovation, and expertise. "At BC Children's Hospital Foundation, we're committed to improving outcomes for every child —and every family—facing a cancer diagnosis," said Malcolm Berry, president and CEO, BC Children's Hospital Foundation. "This generous gift from Hyundai Hope on Wheels is more than a donation; it's a meaningful investment in the care, treatment, and hope that families can count on when they walk through the hospital's doors." BC Children's Hospital is home to some of the country's leading paediatric oncology researchers. Experts at the hospital and BC Children's Hospital Research Institute are advancing clinical trials and lab-based discoveries to better understand childhood cancers and develop more effective, less invasive treatments made for kids. Ongoing studies focus on a wide range of cancer types, including leukemia, brain tumours, and solid tumours, with a strong emphasis on precision medicine and survivorship. To mark the donation, Hyundai hosted its signature Handprint Ceremony, a powerful tradition of Hyundai Hope on Wheels. During the event, children affected by cancer were invited to place their painted handprints on a white Hyundai vehicle, alongside families, care teams, and community members. Each handprint is a symbol of courage, unity, and the ongoing fight to end childhood cancer. Hyundai Canada's NHL ambassador, North Vancouver native Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, was on hand to lend his support to the cause. Connor expressed his gratitude for everything B.C. Children's Hospital and Foundation teams do for the community and participated in the handprint ceremony, bringing smiles to the faces of all participants. "This is our first year of Hyundai Hope on Wheels in Canada, and today's Handprint Ceremony at BC Children's Hospital is a moving reminder of why this program matters," said Kirk Merrett, Hyundai Canada's director of human resources and administration and the Hyundai Canada executive who administers Hyundai Hope on Wheels. "We're proud to stand with this incredible hospital and the families it serves — and to support the people working tirelessly to create brighter futures for kids facing cancer." Hyundai Hope on Wheels is a registered non-profit focused on funding research and care programs for children with cancer. The $250,000 donation to BC Children's Hospital Foundation is part of a broader $4 million commitment Hyundai Hope on Wheels is making in 2025 to support paediatric oncology centres across Canada. Through this initiative, Hyundai Canada is proud to give back to the communities where its employees and customers live and work — and to help drive progress, one handprint at a time. About BC Children's Hospital Foundation BC Children's is more than a hospital. It's an acute care centre, rehabilitation and assessment centre, mental health service provider, and research institute—tackling the most complex physical and mental health challenges facing children and youth today. Widely recognized as leaders in specialized, innovative therapies and ground-breaking research, BC Children's is ranked among the top paediatric hospitals in the world. Whether it's kidney failure, cancer, heart disease, or brain health, there are hundreds of health experts tirelessly delivering care and over 2,000 research professionals working to solve the biggest questions remaining in child health. The generosity of donors fuels our ability to conquer childhood diseases, prevent illness and injury, and prioritize the unique needs of kids in every aspect of their care. You might think your impact is small, but your support of BC Children's Hospital could be just what we need to push the next medical advancement over the finish line. Follow us at @bcchf or visit for more information. About Hyundai Hope On Wheels Hyundai Hope on Wheels will be a registered non-profit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Formed in Canada in 2025, Hyundai Hope on Wheels provides support to both research, through grants, and care and survivorship, through impact donations. First launched in the U.S. in 1998, it is now one of the largest non-profit funders of pediatric cancer research in that country. Primary funding for Hyundai Hope on Wheels in Canada comes from Hyundai Auto Canada and its more than 226 Canadian dealers nationwide. Media Contacts: Mohga Hassib, PR analyst, Hyundai Canada; mhassib@ SOURCE Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. View original content to download multimedia: Sign in to access your portfolio
