Paul Bissonnette makes his feelings clear about 'unwarranted' Connor Bedard criticism

It's been a rollercoaster ride of a sophomore season for Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard. His numbers aren't where he'd want them to be after he started the season scoring just three goals in his first 21 games. On top of that, he's faced criticism from several former NHL players in the media, including Jeremy Roenick, Mark Messier, and PK Subban.

Last week, another former NHLer, now a TNT hockey analyst, Paul Bissonnette, called out Bedard. Biz went over a shift in a game against the Edmonton Oilers, dissecting turnovers and a lack of intensity, referring to it as pond hockey from the Blackhawks phenom.

On Tuesday's episode of the "Spittin' Chiclets" podcast, Bissonnette spoke on the response and dialogue from the hockey world following his comments.

"I want to make sure this kid knows this is not personal like this isn't," Bissonnette said. "And another thing as to maybe why this snowballed a little bit more than it should have. And Frank Seravalli brought it up. He's like, 'I feel like this kid's getting a bunch of, like, unwarranted hate lately.' ... About five days prior, Mess and PK Subban were kind of talking about some of these things. ... (39:30).

"And the reason that I was doing it was because they did it. I swear on my life, I was offline. ... I did not see that discussion happen. But if you think that I'm gonna, like, fly cross country every week, and my job as an analyst is to break down video and at the end of a period see what I saw from him and not break it down on the broadcast you're out of your mind."

Bissonnette is known as one of the popular figures in the hockey community. Connor Bedard understands that and wasn't too phased by the comments, saying it's his job to point out mistakes during the intermission.

Connor Bedard has been productive despite the recent criticism

Despite all the criticism and backlash, Connor Bedard has found more consistency in his game.

Since snapping a 12-game goalless drought on Nov. 27 against the Dallas Stars, Bedard has produced at a point-per-game rate. The 19-year-old has 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in his last 34 appearances, pushing his season totals to 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 55 games.

He's found the scoresheet in 10 of his last 12 games, recording 11 points (five goals, six assists) during that span, demonstrating signs of growth as a player.

Bedard and the Blackhawks will return from the 4 Nations break on Saturday, February 22, in Columbus for a matchup with the Blue Jackets. The puck drops at 7 p.m. ET at Nationwide Arena.