Connor Bedard Slapped With Abuse of Official Penalty That Confused Pretty Much Everyone

There have been some growing pains in Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard's sophomore campaign, and on Thursday he got a reminder that it's not a good idea to chirp the officials, even if you might have a point.

Despite a stellar, Calder Trophy campaign last season, Bedard has had a bit of a sophomore slump. After playing 66 games this season — just two fewer than he played last season after losing some time with a broken jaw — has 9 fewer points.

Sure, he doesn't exactly have the supporting cast of Blackhawks around him to help set him up, but he's been aware of his underwhelming play at times this season, which also led to him being left off of the Team Canada roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Anyway, this is to say that Bedard being a little frustrated is understandable.  And a bit of that frustration appears to have slipped out toward an official on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks, and boy did he pay for it.

Just under halfway through the third period, Bedard was assessed a 10-minute misconduct for abuse of officials, but everyone had a hard time figuring out when exactly this alleged abuse happened.

Replays made it appear that Bedard was upset over a non-call that occurred when he rushed into the Sharks zone and was tripped up by San Jose defenseman Mario Ferraro.

We can debate whether there should have been a penalty. I kind of like that not being called, but I can also see why Bedard may have been hot under the collar given how awkwardly he went down.

But where was the chirping? I didn't see it anywhere in that clip and that exchange with referee Chris Rooney seemed pretty normal.

So when was it?

Well, Bedard doesn't even remember…

"I don't know; I don't remember," Bedard said. "Probably when I got to the bench, I feel like the play was still going on."

However, Bedard did remember what he said and didn't think that it was particularly egregious.

"No, I didn't think it was too crazy, but you know… he's the ref so he gets to make that call so you gotta live with it."

Well, maybe next time Bedard will make sure nothing sneaks through the filter, even if it's kind of tame.