“He’s elite hockey sense” – Connor Bedard leads Canada roster for 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship
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Connor Bedard
Junior ice hockey centre Connor Bedard, who is a top prospect for the 2023 NHL Draft, is among the 25 players set to play for Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship. The tournament is scheduled to be played at Rogers Place in Edmonton from August 9 to 20.
The North Vancouver native Bedard was fourth in the Western Hockey League (WHL) last season with 100 points (51 goals, 49 assists) in 62 games with the Regina Pats. He also led fifth-place Canada with seven points (six goals, one assist) in four games at the recently-concluded 2022 IIHF Under-18 World Championship in The USA.
“He’s elite hockey sense, elite skill, elite everything,” Peter Sullivan of NHL Central Scouting said, as quoted by NHL.com. “But when he does get frustrated out there, he’s not afraid to give it back, which is a good sign. I compared him to [Hockey Hall of Famer] Marcel Dionne since he played the same way. Guys didn’t want to fool around with [Dionne] because he would go right back at them, and yet he didn’t have a lot of penalty minutes.”
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“Bedard can go from 1-to-60 in two seconds”
Bedard (5-foot-10, 183 pounds) became only the seventh 16-year-old player to be selected to play for Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship. The teenager joined the likes of ice hockey greats such as Wayne Gretzky (1978), Eric Lindros (1989), Jason Spezza (2000), Jay Bouwmeester (2000), Sidney Crosby (2004) and Connor McDavid (2014) in that list.
“Skill wise he’s not only quick but has two or three gears and it’s legit,” Sullivan said. “I mean, the most famous player that had five or six gears was Bobby Orr, and this is what [Bedard] has. He’s got a gear that can go from 1-to-60 in two seconds; he’s that special a player.”
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Sachin Arora
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