The Lynn Valley neighbours heard from Connor Bedard first.
Long before he was talk of the hockey world as a super skilled teenager with penchant for scoring huge goals, he was making a lot of noise in his own backyard. Like, a LOT of noise.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
That was young Bedard firing pucks into the net off his little shooting pad, hour after hour, day after day, year after year.
Soon it wasn’t just the neighbours on notice. Even before he was a teenager, word started to spread of a kid with immense talent, always playing against older players and always excelling.
I’ve covered sports for many years for the North Shore News and we’ve always been wary of blowing up young athletes too soon, of putting too much pressure on someone who still has years of growing to do, physically and mentally.
For every Lebron James who has a legendary career after being called “The Chosen One” on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school student, there are thousands of other athletes who were once labelled as can’t-miss prospects who never reached those lofty expectation.
But by the age of 14, Bedard was demanding our attention. In 2020 he became the first ever player to earn exceptional player status in the Western Hockey League, making him eligible to enter the league a year early as a 15-year-old. He was only the seventh player ever to earn the status across the Canadian Hockey League, joining the likes of John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid, Sean Day, Joseph Valeno and Shane Wright. That list itself proves the volatility of bestowing a 14-year-old with the label “exceptional.” Connor McDavid is widely regarded as the greatest player in the world right now, while others on the list are still fighting to make it as NHL players.
But Bedard has lived up to the word exceptional in every possible way. His first season with the Regina Pats earned him the WHL Rookie of the Year award, and his last season ended with him becoming the first player ever to win the CHL Player of the Year, Top Scorer and Top Prospect awards in the same season.
He did it for Team Canada too, winning two World Juniors Championships in style. In the 2023 event, which wrapped up in January, Bedard was named the tournament’s top forward, a tournament all-star and the tournament’s MVP. He finished with nine goals, 13 assists and 23 points for the tournament, setting new Canadian records for points and assists in a single world juniors. Just last week he earned another honour, becoming the inaugural winner of the IIHF Male Player of the Year award.
Exceptional, from start to finish. And given his path to get to this point, there’s every reason to believe he’ll continue to shine. The stories of his singular obsession with hockey are now legendary. There were the omnipresent mini sticks for endless indoor games. There was the one vacation trip to Hawaii that he was ready to skip until his parents agreed to let him bring rollerblades and hockey sticks along, making for some confused locals staring at the Canadian kid working on his stickhandling by the beach. There was the broken right wrist the kept him out of the game, but didn’t keep him away from the game – he spent the next two months firing shots with his left hand, adding a new layer to his already sublime skills.
But more than that, those who know Bedard know that his strength is built on his supportive, grounded family, who did their best to give him an ordinary life in extraordinary circumstances. His father Tom worked the dangerous life of a logger and would rush home to get Connor to hockey or older sister Madisen to gymnastics. Mother Melanie uprooted her life and moved all the way to Regina with Connor to make sure he was comfortable in a new city two provinces away from home. Madisen, too, took a turn caring for Connor, going with him to Sweden when COVID-19 shut down play in Canada.
Today, Connor Bedard’s name will no doubt be called first overall in the 2023 NHL entry draft, the pick belonging to Chicago. Will he continue to be exceptional when he makes the jump to the big league?
Ask the Lynn Valley neighbours and they’ll tell you what they’ve heard these past few months, after the season ended for the Pats and the draft approached. Amidst all the appearances on TSN and Hockey Night in Canada, the draft combine and the prospect shows, they’ve heard one thing that told them that Bedard was still on a mission to get better every day.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
He was home, and he was shooting. Hour after hour, day after day.
Can’t-miss kid? No need for that label. He might miss a time or two, but we all know now, the kid will never stop shooting.
Andy Prest is the editor of the North Shore News. His lifestyle/humour column runs biweekly.
