Le Journal

ST. LOUIS — An injury to Connor Bedard greatly outweighed all concerns over the Blackhawks' 3-2 loss to the Blues on Friday.Bedard left the ice in substantial pain, holding his upper right arm or shoulder, ahead of his teammates after the final horn. He had awkwardly fallen after getting hit by Blues center Brayden Schenn while taking a faceoff with 0.8 seconds left.Hawks coach Jeff Blashill said Bedard won't play Saturday against the Red Wings, adding he didn't have enough information yet to make any declarations about Bedard's status beyond that. Blashill expected to know more by Monday, before the Hawks' three-game road trip in eastern Canada."I think it's a freak accident, to be honest with you," Blashill said.Hawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser said Bedard "ran into the training room quick" after the game. Connor Bedard exits the ice in serious pain holding his shoulder pic.twitter.com/LIf1pWgnW3— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) December 13, 2025 Minutes earlier, Bedard had hustled to force a turnover and create an Andre Burakovsky goal that pulled the Hawks within one with 5:52 left. That marked Bedard's 44th point in 31 games this season, which puts him tied for third in the NHL scoring race.The Hawks ultimately weren't able to complete a comeback, even though Tyler Bertuzzi actually got a decent shot off at the horn while Bedard sprawled on the ice in agony.The Blues, coming off an ugly loss Thursday in Nashville, jumped on the Hawks early with two goals in the first 12 minutes — off plays where the Hawks gave the scorers far too much time and space."They came out super ready, and we came out to just play hockey," Blashill said. "Too many guys weren't as competitive as you need to be. It was physical early, and we needed to come out with way more mental focus. Not every guy, but too many guys."Central stunnerThe Central Division already looked difficult with the Avalanche and Stars, owners of the NHL's two best records by a sizable margin, sitting atop it. On Friday, it got even tougher.The Wild swung a stunning blockbuster trade for Quinn Hughes, arguably the second-best defenseman in the world, while the Hawks and Blues skated through warmups.The Wild paid a steep price: three recent first-round picks (including Zeev Buium) plus a 2026 first-round pick. And they took a risk that Hughes will re-sign with them, considering he's a pending free agent in 2027 who could be lured by his brothers in New Jersey.Nonetheless, the trade drastically transforms the Wild — who just convinced Kirill Kaprizov to sign a long-term deal in September — into possible Stanley Cup contenders, at least for two years. The Red Wings, Devils and other Eastern Conference teams had headlined the recent Hughes rumors; nobody saw the Wild coming.The Hawks have enough assets to have theoretically competed with the Wild's offer, but it wouldn't have made sense for them to make a move like that right now with their contention window not quite open yet. If a similar opportunity arises two or three years from now, they might be interested.The Hawks still have nine games left against the Avalanche, Stars and Wild on their schedule this season.Vanacker’s inviteHawks forward prospect Marek Vanacker was a surprising exclusion from Canada's initial roster for the world junior championships, but he picked up a late invite to their training camp Friday. Vanacker, a 2024 first-round pick, leads the OHL with 26 goals this season. He could now compete against fellow Hawks prospects Vaclav Nestrasil (Czechia), Anton Frondell (Sweden) and AJ Spellacy (United States) in the tournament.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Bulls are in a weird place these days.Defense still seems to be optional far too often, and a seven-victory team can make them continue to look underwhelming. Then they had center Nikola Vucevic’s benching to explain after a 129-126 victory Friday against the Hornets.‘‘You obviously want to be out there as a competitor,’’ Vucevic said of not playing the last 17 minutes. ‘‘Zach [Collins] and ‘Sticks’ [Jalen Smith] were playing great. They got us back into the game, gave us a big boost. [Head coach] Billy [Donovan] made the call to stay with them, and obviously it was the right call. We won the game, and I’m just glad we won the game. It was a tough stretch for us.’’That was an understatement, considering the Bulls (10-14) were stuck in a seven-game losing streak and appeared to be on the way to No. 8 midway through the third quarter.But with the Bulls down by 13 with 4:58 left in the third, Donovan pulled Vucevic and went with Collins and Smith — sometimes together, sometimes staggered.It turned out to be a good call because the Bulls caught the Hornets early in the fourth and outscored them 40-34 in the quarter.Smith and Collins combined for eight rebounds, including four offensive boards, down the stretch.‘‘I think the thing for us, the consistency part, we had nine turnovers and nine assists in the first half,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘[Then in] the second half we got to the backboard. Those are the things we’re going to have to do. I thought ‘Sticks’ and Zach were playing pretty well together.’’That didn’t mean there wasn’t a hold-your-breath moment. With the Bulls leading by three with 10 seconds left, Collins was called for a foul on a three-point shot by rookie Kon Knueppel. Donovan challenged the call because he didn’t think Collins made contact until well after the shot was out of Knueppel’s hands. The officials agreed and overturned the foul.Crisis averted.But what about Vucevic? Is there a situation brewing in which he might lose his starting job? Highly unlikely.‘‘I wouldn’t go off just one game and make a rash [decision],’’ Donovan said. ‘‘And the thing I love about Vooch is, even on the bench, he’s encouraging those guys, talking to those guys. He’s incredibly positive. I’m sure Vooch wanted to be out there every minute of the game, but I really appreciated the way he handled himself on the bench in terms of clapping and trying to lift the guys up.’’In the bigger picture, however, this goes to the idea of the Bulls’ insistence on ‘‘competitive integrity.’’ This has been a disappointing season so far, and while the coaching staff and front office are on the same page in terms of what ‘‘competitive integrity’’ means now, might that change soon?Donovan knows that’s on the table.‘‘The message is clear every day in terms of what we’re trying to do,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘I think one of the things that gets hard is if you sit there and say: ‘Hey, guys, don’t worry about the winning. All we’re worried about is trying to get this guy minutes, this guy minutes, and we’re going to try and experiment with this and this.’ When guys come to work every day and the focus isn’t on the winning part of it, it’s, ‘OK, if I’m not included in this plan, what am I doing here?’‘‘That’s not to say that as time goes on, [the front office and ownership] aren’t looking at a bigger picture and taking a 30,000-foot view down on this thing and saying: ‘This is what we’ve got to do now. We’ve seen enough over a period of time.’ ’’At least for one night, anyway, that 30,000-foot view could be tabled.

Some turned in their keys and walked off feeling relieved. Others were forced out by armed security personnel telling them they had 30 minutes to leave the building.The remaining residents of the South Shore apartment complex raided by federal immigration agents earlier this fall left the building Friday, scattering to different parts of the city.Raymond Corona came bright and early to return his keys and collect the second $2,500 check from Friedman Communities, the court-appointed property manager. He is headed to an apartment in West Lawn after a short stay at a hotel these coming weeks.“Even though I’ve only lived here a little over two years, I made this neighborhood my home,” Corona said. “I made friends [here] and I used to walk my dogs on the beach every single day.”Corona criticized Judge Debra Ann Seaton, for not listening to residents’ feedback about the timeline. Seaton on Monday denied the tenants’ request to extend the move-out deadline calling the building unsafe.“She silenced us,” he said. Raymond Corona is headed to a hotel and then an apartment in West Lawn. “Even though I’ve only lived here a little over two years, I made friends [here] and I used to walk my dogs on the beach every single day.”Esther Yoon-Ji Kang Like Corona, Darren Hightower turned in his keys on Friday morning after spending one final cold night in the building. He said he saw security personnel use battering rams to open doors of locked units on Friday morning.“I guess if you don’t have a key to hand in or if you don’t come signing off in time, they’re just going to knock down the remaining doors to board them up,” he said.Hightower said his car broke down Thursday night, making the final move-out difficult. He doesn’t have a place to live yet, but is glad to be done with this chapter of his life.“I made a lot of friends in the last few months here, I feel deeply about a lot of people,” he said. “I hope their stories turn around also.”According to an image of the lease termination agreement obtained by WBEZ, tenants who signed the document and received compensation have released Friedman Communities, the bank that owns the foreclosed property, and the previous owners of any liability. Residents without leases, like Candis Stewart, were not offered the $5,000 move-out funds.In tears as she carried a suitcase out, Stewart said she was given 30 minutes to leave the building by two armed security personnel hired by Friedman Communities.“I woke up to a guard with a gun at the door — a big man and a lady, they had guns at their sides — and they told us that we had to get out,” Stewart said. On her last night in the building, she stayed in a vacant unit after Friedman Communities locked her out of her old apartment.Stewart had been living with her fiance, who was the lease holder.“He moved out when I was at the hospital after he beat me,” she said, adding that her phone was one of the items left in the now-boarded-up apartment.Stewart said she did not know where she would stay Friday night, and said she had lost most of her possessions when property management boarded up her apartment.Members of the media were not allowed inside the building on Friday.Representatives from the Chicago Mayor’s Office and the city’s Department of Family & Support Services were on hand to connect people like Stewart to resources.The judge’s order said tenants who have belongings still in the building “shall coordinate with [Friedman Communities] to have access to the building to retrieve and claim any personal property left after the move-out date.” But on Wednesday, a WBEZ reporter and a resident asked Friedman representatives to confirm the provision and were told that Friday was the final day to take any belongings. Former residents Candis Stewart (left) and Samantha Stamps (right) hug goodbye outside the 7500 South Shore apartment complex. They’re among the final tenants to vacate the foreclosed property.Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times On Friday, Rochelle…

It was always understood that as a young quarterback learning a new system, Caleb Williams would need time to acclimate to Bears coach Ben Johnson’s offense. That runway isn’t infinite, though, and this is the point at which he should be turning a corner.One way to know that’s the case is by taking a look at Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, who went two picks after Williams in the draft last year and has overcome similar coaching turmoil to emerge as one of the favorites to win MVP.As Williams goes into the game against the Browns on Sunday, he’s doing some things better than he did as a rookie and taking modest steps in Johnson’s offense, but he’s not playing well enough to vault the Bears into championship contention. It’ll be difficult to even make the playoffs — the Bears are in the seventh seed and finish the season against the Packers, 49ers and Lions — without more from him.The Browns are near the bottom of the NFL at 3-10, but they won’t make it easy on Williams. They have the best pass rusher of this era in Myles Garrett, who has 20 sacks and needs three more to set the single-season record, and are the No. 2 overall defense. They’ve allowed the fewest yards passing, 12th-lowest completion percentage and 14th-lowest passer rating.Among the 27 quarterbacks who have thrown at least 250 passes this season, Williams ranks 20th in passer rating (87.2), 14th in yards per game (223.7), 12th in touchdown passes (19), eighth in fewest interceptions (six), last in completion percentage (57.8) and 20th in passer rating (87.2).His two biggest problems have been timing and throwing accuracy. He needs to be quicker and sharper in recognizing open receivers, especially right off the line of scrimmage, and more disciplined in his throwing fundamentals.Johnson must sort out which issues Williams is capable of fixing immediately and which will take more time because they simply are part of the deal in adjusting to a new offense.“Both of those things come up,” he said of the two categories. “There’s a lot of thinking going on for him right now. Since the bye week, we’ve opened up all these shifts and motions. When that happens, he’s making sure he’s checking off all the boxes before the snap.“Because of that, the post-snap play suffers a little bit... It’s something that we’re going to continue to work through. We’re going to get there. I’m not worried about that aspect of it. It’s just a matter of time.”Johnson believes that strongly enough that he’s willing to bet the season on it.He could curb the pre-snap complexities and get the Bears back to the simpler version of the offense they ran the first four games, but he is certain the pre-snap actions have boosted the rushing attack, which ranks second in the league, and that Williams will catch up.While there’s a negligible difference in Williams’ numbers from Year 1 to Year 2, Johnson is higher than ever on his outlook. He said when he took this job that Williams was a big part of the draw — “Having a quarterback helps,” he said with a grin — and he’s more confident now.More than anything, that’s because of something behind the scenes. Johnson has seen Williams increasingly adopt his vision and raved last week about his “coachability aspect.” One of the surest signs of their alignment is that Johnson isn’t having to point out errors; Williams brings them up himself.“He’s doing a really good job of being critical of himself,” Johnson said. “We see it the same way.  When he’s critical of himself and he’s taking to coaching, good things are coming on the horizon.”It’s telling that Williams hasn’t stopped talking about how much he loves playing for Johnson even as Johnson has been relentlessly hard on him throughout their 11 months working together. He trusts the coaching he’s getting, and every time he mentions it, it’s a reminder of how poorly Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron coached him last season.Williams said last week his…