The hottest name from the NHL’s talent factory in many years, Connor Bedard, was probably taken by the seriousness of the debut moment when he would make his NHL debut with his club Chicago on Tuesday, local time, reports nhl.com.
The Chicago rookie was reportedly so excited and eager to hit the ice at the United Center that he forgot to bring his stick from the locker room.
Ran back
In a video shown by ESPN, Bedard can be seen high-fiving his teammates outside the locker room before realizing he forgot his stick and running into the locker room to retrieve them.
He then took to the ice, with the stick, and, according to tradition, rode a rookie lap around the ice with the team’s other newcomer Kevin Korchinski.
Once the game started, however, there was no confusion to be seen with Bedard and already in his first seconds on the ice he got to play against his childhood idol, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby.
CUT: See Connor Bedard’s miss before NHL debut
Made against the idol
Bedard, who was picked first in the 2023 draft, took the first pick of the game against none other than Sidney Crosby, who was picked first in the 2005 draft.
– I tried to win the drawing, but I failed miserably. But it was pretty cool. He was a childhood hero to me. So it was really fun, he says, according to ESPN.
Later in the game, when Ryan Donato scored Chicago’s tying goal in the second period after Pittsburgh took a 2–0 lead, it was Connor Bedard who had the second assist.
Halfway into the third period, Chicago’s Cole Guttman equalized and Jason Dickinson gave the team the lead with just over 4 minutes left to play. The final score was then written at 4–2 after Nick Foligno scored Chicago’s final goal in Pittsburgh’s empty cage.
– Turning around the way we did is extremely good for the feeling in the team, says Bedard.