PITTSBURGH — Still dressed head-to-toe in his gear, Connor Bedard walked right into the middle of the visitors dressing at PPG Paints Arena, turned to his left and looked a little confused. After a brief pause, Bedard whirled around 180 degrees and located what he was looking for: The stall he’d gotten dressed in about 90 minutes earlier.
Yes, even guys projected to be generational superstars sometimes need a second to get oriented on their first real day in the NHL.
Per usual, Bedard was one of the last Chicago Blackhawks to leave the ice during a practice session or morning skate. That, however, is the only normal thing about this day as Bedard — long hailed as the next one — will play his first regular season NHL contest on Tuesday night versus Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“It’s different,” Bedard said of the day. “It’s hard to say it’s just the same.”
Bedard said the nerves are most definitely there, more so on Monday when the Hawks flew into town. Though he wasn’t sure how much shut-eye he’d get last night when his head hit the pillow, Bedard says he wound up like sleeping “like a baby.”
That means the guy drafted first overall by Chicago in June will be well-rested and ready to go when it’s time to square off against Crosby, who played his first NHL game 18 years ago in 2005, a couple of months after Bedard was born.
“Just the way he interacts with everyone, he’s such a good role model for kids and the hockey community itself,” Bedard said when inevitably asked about the ways he might model his approach after Crosby’s. “Getting to spend a little time with him, just seeing how much time he takes for everyone, treats everyone with respect. He just seems like an amazing person.”
The hockey world is fast learning that, in his own way, so is Bedard. He’s certainly got the humble Canadian kid part down pat, but he’s also flashing a sense of humour regularly and seems completely at ease in his own skin while handling questions about trying to join the great pantheon of Chicago athletes like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane from his sport, to say nothing of the all-time NBA star, Michael Jordan.
Whether being compared to one of the biggest stars in the history of sports or other first-overall NHL picks who made memorable debuts, Bedard said more than once that he’s just trying to be the best version of himself. He also cracked a grin and noted not every heralded player is going to debut the way Auston Matthews burst on the scene not so long ago.
“I’m sure there have been a couple who didn’t score four goals,” Bedard said.
That Bedard feels comfortable in a big spot is no surprise for anybody who has been watching the North Vancouver product the past few years. He scored 12 goals in what wound up being just a 15-game WHL season three years ago as a 15-year-old rookie for the Regina Pats. He dazzled at not one, but two World Junior Championships in the past 14 months after COVID-19 forced one WJC into becoming a summer event in Edmonton.
But no matter what a player has done at lower levels, the NHL represents something different.
“I think what’s impressive is he, as I’m sure everyone’s seen, he gets a lot of attention media-wise and he just cares about hockey,” Blackhawks defenceman Connor Murphy said. “I think [that] is a great [predictor] of success in someone is, not being distracted by the outside elements and the perks and the lifestyle and attention. It’s more about him being focused on his dream and his mission to just be the best player he can be. You guys see him on the ice after [practice] every day and that’s the same today.”
It was. But, again, the nice thing about this day is nobody can pretend there’s not also something extra exciting in the air.
“I don’t know that any home-opener is a run-of-the-mill game, these are exciting times for [all] of us,” said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. “I think the fact that Bedard is coming in to play just adds another narrative to the game, which is exciting for hockey fans. And it should be; he’s a real bright, young player who will inevitably emerge as a superstar. And with the players that we have in our team and obviously with [this hockey] city and our leader, I think that’s a great narrative for hockey.”