"There needs to be respect" - Jeremy Roenick tears into Connor Bedard over his apparent snub at Winter Classic

Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks lost 6-2 to the St. Louis Blues in the 16th edition of the Winter Classic on New Year's Eve. Several of Blackhawks' players shared their disappointment postgame.

The players were embarrassed for the showing they gave their fans and team alumni who were at the spectacle. One of the former Blackhawks that was in Chicago at the Winter Classic was Jeremy Roenick.

On the "SnipesandStripes" podcast, Roenick shared Bedard was the lone Blackhawk to not approach him or fellow alumni Chris Chelios and Denis Savard during the event. The Hockey Hall of Famer was not impressed and made his feelings known.

"All the players came up to me, Chelly (Chris Chelios), Savvy (Denis Savard) and congratulated us, saying hi, giving us the respect. Except for one," Roenick said.

"There needs to be respect in the game and there needs to be respect for the history of the game. But there's one player that didn't come up to me, Chelly or Savvy, and that was the superstar of the Chicago Blackhawks. That's Connor Bedard. Regardless if we played 20 years ago or they're playing now, we're all still part of that family," Roenick continued.

"And if we don't have that respect, to go up and fist bump to say, hey, congratulations. What's going on? How can you do it with your own teammates? Right? So I'm not ripping on him in terms of, you know, his personality or anything like that.

"This kid needs to learn as a 19-year-old. This all is his learning curve. His learning curve has to be there if he's going to be a captain of this team. There's a lot of things that he has to think about in terms of being that leader and being that Captain. And unfortunately, he dropped the ball," Roenick added.

Connor Bedard's recent uptick in production

After a slow start to his 2024-25 season, Connor Bedard has been heating up lately. The 19-year-old has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in his last 13 games. This comes after somewhat struggling to the tune of 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in his first 26 games.

Bedard's strong stretch of production has come thanks to improvements on the power play. Seven (two goals, five assists) of his 15 points in the 13-game period have come on the man advantage. He managed just 10 power-play points (two goals, eight assists) in the previous 26.

Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks are back in action this afternoon against the free-falling New York Rangers. The puck drops at 3 p.m. EST at the United Center.