C Connor Bedard - Regina Pats, WHL (2023 Draft) Part 2

[nbwingsfan]

Yeah..Hockey Canada are dumb sometimes.

That year. 03-04 .Crosby did 135 points in 62 games and was named the best junior player in Canada.

...at 16 years old...think about that..

...and the coach Mario Durocher...put him on the fourth line...when Sid was clearly the best player on the team...

Watching that tournament no he wasn’t. Crosby wasn’t even L close the next year either where Bergeron clearly led that team.

It is a 19 year olds tournament

 

[crosbyshow]

Watching that tournament no he wasn’t. Crosby wasn’t even L close the next year either where Bergeron clearly led that team.

It is a 19 year olds tournament

Lol wasn’t cause he played with Stephen..f. dixon.

The best player in Canada that year was Sid and it was not even close.

Who is the last player named the best player in Canada...at 16...??

Canada.lost in final that year...

If Durocher would have.put Sid with Carter or Mike Richards..Canada would have won.

No instead he put Niger Daws and Anthony Stewart .....lolllllll

 

[ponder]

McDavid and Crosby played supporting roles as D-1s (if that means two years before his draft, not sure that it does).

It would be a surprise if he ends up being a Top 2 player. Historically young players are not put in that postition.

Yeah, D-1 means “the year before your draft year”. So for Crosby, drafted in 2005, his draft year was the 04/05 season, and his D-1 the 03/04 season.

Agreed that Crosby and McDavid were supporting players at the WJC in their D-1 years - significant contributors, clearly super talented, but also clearly not top 2 on the team. In somewhat rare occasions draft-year players will be top 2 on team Canada, but D-1, never that I can remember. Making the team at all in your D-1 is already fairly rare, and very impressive.

Edit: just googling random legends, maybe Mario was top 2 in his D-1? He was 2nd on the team in scoring, but that was before my time, didn’t watch that tourney

 

[nbwingsfan]

Lol wasn’t cause he played with Stephen..f. dixon.

The best player in Canada that year was Sid and it was not even close.

Who is the last player named the best player in Canada...at 16...??

Canada.lost in final that year...

If Durocher would have.put Sid with Carter or Mike Richards..Canada would have won.

No instead he put Niger Daws and Anthony Stewart .....lolllllll

Any explanation why Crosby wasn’t even close to the best the next year despite putting up 160+pts?

 

[Kshahdoo]

 

[Gold Standard]

If you’re suggesting he’ll be a top 2 player for Canada at the WJCs, that’s a major long shot. Has there ever been a D-1 player who was top 2 on a Canadian WJC squad? Can’t think of one off the top of my head.

first of all, everybody should just stop using this distinction/classification for a player. It's a U20 International tournament that has nothing at all to do with a professional league's arbitrary draft rules. A better distinction or classification for a 16 year old for this tournament is Triple Underager.

And the answer to your question is, no 16 year old not named Wayne Gretzky has ever had a dominant performance at the U20 tournament for Team Canada. And I'm not expecting from Bedard either if he makes the team. If he makes it and manages a couple of goals and a couple of helpers...I'll be thrilled.

 

[daver]

Watching that tournament no he wasn’t. Crosby wasn’t even L close the next year either where Bergeron clearly led that team.

It is a 19 year olds tournament

The point was he wasn't given the chance to be their best player. When he did get time, he did create a lot of chances, almost literally every time he was on the ice. It is a pretty cautious approach by the coach but seems to be entrenched in the thinking by the coaches. They don't want to take the risk of putting too much responsibility on a 16 year old regardless of talent.

The next year the team was so loaded that they could afford to not put Crosby front and centre where his talent clearly placed him.

 

[OKR]

No instead he put Niger Daws and Anthony Stewart .....lolllllll

This sounds awfully racist.

 

[crosbyshow]

This sounds awfully racist.

What? I wrote about Stephen Dixon too dumbass.

Daws, Stewart were on the first 2 line of the team and Crosby on the fourth....

That year Crosby was named the best player in Canada at 16...only.

Durocher was dumb as a rock to put him with Dixon instead of Jeff Carter Mike Richards etc.

Race has nothing to do with this..jeez.

 

[wings5]

Lol wasn’t cause he played with Stephen..f. dixon.

The best player in Canada that year was Sid and it was not even close.

Who is the last player named the best player in Canada...at 16...??

Canada.lost in final that year...

If Durocher would have.put Sid with Carter or Mike Richards..Canada would have won.

No instead he put Niger Daws and Anthony Stewart .....lolllllll

Nigel Dawes is the player. The l at the end of his name and the r that you wrote aren't even close on the keyboard. You can play dumb all you want, which you'd have to be to make that mistake but this is an obvious racist post.

 

[Hanji]

What? I wrote about Stephen Dixon too dumbass.

Daws, Stewart were on the first 2 line of the team and Crosby on the fourth....

That year Crosby was named the best player in Canada at 16...only.

Durocher was dumb as a rock to put him with Dixon instead of Jeff Carter Mike Richards etc.

Race has nothing to do with this..jeez.

Crosby was in no position to lead that team.

He was certainly the most innately talented player, but at higher junior levels physical and mental maturity, poise and experience easily nullifies talent; and if it doesn't it exposes weakensses in a heartbeat. There's a gigantic difference in maturity between a 19 and 16 year old. Any parent knows this. I don't care how talented a player is.
Hockey Canada isn't stupid. They understand this clearly.

 

[wetcoast]

Nigel Dawes is the player. The l at the end of his name and the r that you wrote aren't even close on the keyboard. You can play dumb all you want, which you'd have to be to make that mistake but this is an obvious racist post.

Or one could be charitable and maybe it was a spellcheck error?

either way there is an edit function here and an easy fix.

 

[wetcoast]

What? I wrote about Stephen Dixon too dumbass.

Daws, Stewart were on the first 2 line of the team and Crosby on the fourth....

That year Crosby was named the best player in Canada at 16...only.

Durocher was dumb as a rock to put him with Dixon instead of Jeff Carter Mike Richards etc.

Race has nothing to do with this..jeez.

Yet you had 45 minutes to edit your post, actions speak louder than words.

 

[nbwingsfan]

The point was he wasn't given the chance to be their best player. When he did get time, he did create a lot of chances, almost literally every time he was on the ice. It is a pretty cautious approach by the coach but seems to be entrenched in the thinking by the coaches. They don't want to take the risk of putting too much responsibility on a 16 year old regardless of talent.

The next year the team was so loaded that they could afford to not put Crosby front and centre where his talent clearly placed him.

He was absolutely given the chance to be the best player when he was put with Bergeron on the first line. PP1 minutes as well.

Yet he wasn’t as dominant as Bergeron, Carter, Getzlaf, who were all 19.

Point being 16 year old simply never do well in tournaments like this and it has nothing to do with talent or opportunities. You’re just a boy barely leaving puberty playing against the absolute best 18/19 year olds in the world.

Wayne Gretzky is the only exception to this rule for obvious reasons

 

[Gold Standard]

If he's going to make the team, he's got to do this weekend.



Although, I'd like to see him in a pre-tournament game or two before final 25 is submitted.

 

[Kshahdoo]

If he's going to make the team, he's got to do this weekend.



Although, I'd like to see him in a pre-tournament game or two before final 25 is submitted.

He's a smooth speaker. Probably is working on it already or has natural talent. He just needs to stop saying all those "you know"...

 

[Lockin17]

who's better between Wright and Bedard ?
I think Bedard will be a next Crosby/Mc david type of player, a superstar.

 

[EichelFan15]

2+1 in a 3-0 win in the first game against the U-Sport team. Plus set up the only goal in the 3-3 overtime.

Did he lock up a spot on team Canada with that effort or does he need to show up again tomorrow?

 

[EichelFan15]

2+1 in a 3-0 win in the first game against the U-Sport team. Plus set up the only goal in the 3-3 overtime.

Did he lock up a spot on team Canada with that effort or does he need to show up again tomorrow?

Bobby Mac seems to think he not only needs to be on the team but could be an important player playing high up in the lineup. I’ll believe it when I see it with hockey Canada.

 

[Gold Standard]

Bobby Mac seems to think he not only needs to be on the team but could be an important player playing high up in the lineup. I’ll believe it when I see it with hockey Canada.

Yep, me too.

but his performance last night was encouraging.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Watching his game last night...he is so damn dynamic. The point totals from this year in the WHL are that much more confusing seeing him lol that team has to be an absolute dumpster fire for him not to be producing...I can't see any other explanation.

 

[Corso]

Watching his game last night...he is so damn dynamic. The point totals from this year in the WHL are that much more confusing seeing him lol that team has to be an absolute dumpster fire for him not to be producing...I can't see any other explanation.

His production in the Dub is certainly perplexing to say the least; perhaps an issue with consistency? Was able to watch the highlights of the game and man oh man his shot is even better than I remember, just so Sakic/Mathewesque.

 

[Hanji]

His production in the Dub is certainly perplexing to say the least; perhaps an issue with consistency? Was able to watch the highlights of the game and man oh man his shot is even better than I remember, just so Sakic/Mathewesque.

It’s likely maturity. He’s still so young.
He’s not quite mature enough to dominate on his own, with very little help around him and the opposition’s focus fully on him.
But put him with some talent who can open things up a bit and take the pressure off; and bedard ->

 

[newmanager]

I think he'll rise to the occasion again. Look for him to become the go to guy along with Wright as the tournament progresses.

I figure after last night's game some people may have changed their mind. Looking for better comments this time. He looks great watching him in the WHL but I know most on this board don't have the benefit of seeing him play in person so I understand the stat watchers being down on him. What a lot of people don't realize is he's a lot more advanced than these 19 year olds that he has to beat out. He's put a lot of work into gaining strength and is also physically stronger than a lot of these 19 year olds. He can be a difference maker regardless of age.

 

[Bubbles]

Watching his game last night...he is so damn dynamic. The point totals from this year in the WHL are that much more confusing seeing him lol that team has to be an absolute dumpster fire for him not to be producing...I can't see any other explanation.

It's only confusing to stat watchers. He's been consistently the best player on the team for the entire season. The "lull" in the stats was due to him trying too hard to make everything happen himself because his linemates were absolutely useless.

Many of us who watch his actual games said that once he got put with better linemates, his production would go up. Recently he has been put with Valis and 2024 eligible Tanner Howe and they have been magic together. Earlier in the season he was stuck with Dubinsky, Nijihoff, Stringer or Brook who are barely WHL-level players. Also, the Pats are a terrible team and Paddock doesn't seem to be interested in making the team better.

When you put him with linemates that can open up space, be in the right spot, or actually make a pass, he shines, as you can see here.