Connor Bedard shows tremendous maturity and a great attitude following OT win

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Mike Armenti
September 29, 2023 (9:51)

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Everyone knows by now that Connor Bedard is a special player. He may not be the biggest guy on the ice, but what he lacks in size, he makes up for in skill, work ethic, will and attitude.

Last night marked Bedard's pre-season NHL debut, which was a pretty big deal for the city of Chicago and the Blackhawks organization. After being drafted 1st overall in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Bedard has said and done all of the right things in front of the camera. However, without playing an NHL game, we simply couldn't know what to expect from him at the next level.

Well, the 18-year-old did not disappoint in his pre-season debut, tallying two points, including a game-winning assist in overtime. Bedard connected with Andreas Athanasiou in OT with an amazing saucer pass and Athanasiou made the most of his opportunity on home ice, scoring in OT to topple the Vancouver Canucks.

Bedard's stat line in his NHL pre-season debut was about as good as you could expect as well. He was dominant all night long.

21:20 ice time
9 shot attempts
5 shots on goal
2 assists
70.3% xG ratio
63% on faceoffs

Still, instead of taking credit for his body of work, Bedard revealed that he wasn't happy with his game, emphasizing that he felt he could have and should have done more.

"I think I could be a lot better. I don't think I personally played great."

Spoken like a future champion. The truly great players are never satisfied with where there game is. They're constantly striving to be better. In that sense, Bedard turning the microscope on himself is simply his way of looking to continue to improve all of the areas of his game. This only bodes well for the Blackhawks.