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Connor Bedard’s playing time with Team Canada: André Tourigny defends himself

 Andrew Taylor
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Connor Bedard’s playing time with Team Canada: André Tourigny defends himself
Credit: Photo by RvS.Media/Robert Hradil/Getty Images

The World Hockey Championship is now behind us. Canada didn’t manage to get its hands on a medal during the tournament, for those who missed it.

Last year, Canada won gold.

Kaiden Guhle failed to return home with a medal, unlike his colleagues Justin Barron and Samuel Montembeault, who won gold last year.

However, what really caught the eye during the tournament was Connor Bedard’s playing time. After all, towards the end of the tournament, he was mainly used as André Tourigny’s 13th forward.

Here’s his playing time during the tournament.

  • Match of May 26 – 10:13
  • May 25 game – 13:04
  • May 23 match – 12:00
  • May 21 match – 8:08
  • May 19th match – 10:04
  • May 18 match – 13:19
  • May 16th – 14:30
  • May 14th – 16:00
  • May 12 match – 14:54
  • May 11 match – 15:32
Obviously, this is a far cry from the 19:47 average in the NHL. In the last three months of the season, Luke Richardson and the Blackhawks used him an average of over 20 minutes per game.

Because the young man still found a way to get eight points (including five goals) in ten games, the situation attracted a lot of national attention. It’s only natural.

But do you think the criticism of Team Canada coach André Tourigny kept him up at night?

Asked about this on 98.5 FM, the man himself confirmed to Mario Langlois that the tournament was not a one-man show and that we had to decide as a team what was best for the team.

While Tourigny has the final say on his lineup, it’s not as if he made the decision to cut the youngster playing time and place him as the 13th forward all by himself.

Jon Cooper, Doug Armstrong, Rick Nash, Kyle Dubas, Dean Evason, Jay Woodcroft, Steve Ott and many other names less familiar to the public were all among those chatting about the guys’ playing time on the ice.

The Bear doesn’t give a damn about the opinions of those who didn’t watch the tournament and who only criticize the score sheet.

As you may have noticed, Bedard hasn’t really complained publicly about his playing time. He understood the role he had around quality NHL veterans who have more springs under their belts than he does.


In gusto

– Pierre McGuire doesn’t believe the rumours surrounding Brady Tkachuk.

– Excellent news.

– Memorial Cup update.

– This was to be expected.

– Good question.

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