All eyes were on highly touted hockey prospect Connor Bedard on Friday (Nov. 25) night in Langley.
The North Vancouver product wowed fans and drew gasps at some of his moves - especially in the first period - as he and his Regina Pats teammates blanked the Vancouver Giants 3-0 at the Langley Events Centre.
The game had been sold out for months and the LEC was buzzing as Bedard took the opening face-off and went on to intercept a pass and turn that into a scoring play. He continued to push the offensive pace and recorded seven shots on goal to lead the Pats.
Connor Bedard has arrived at @LangleyEvents. The @WHLPats take on the @WHLGiants tonight pic.twitter.com/1guJVoUt6h
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) November 26, 2022
He collected one assist after driving the puck forward and setting up a teammate with a backhand pass that led to a goal. That point extended Bedard’s point scoring streak to 22 games and he has recorded 19 goals and 49 points in that time. He leads the Western Hockey League in points and is likely to be the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
The Giants announced a sell-out crowd of 5,276 and stated that there has never been this much demand for a regular season game in the team’s history.
Hottest ticket in town at @LangleyEvents, where fans are lining the @WHLPats tunnel for a closer look at Connor Bedard.
— Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) November 26, 2022
Puck drop 7:30pm vs @WHLGiants. pic.twitter.com/QPn9gJvRyW
Bedard and the Pats continue a western road trip with games in Victoria on Saturday (Nov. 26), Kelowna (Nov. 29), Kamloops (Nov. 30) and Prince George (Dec. 2). This is the first time that Bedard will be playing in those cities and possibly the last time as it’s likely he will join an NHL roster for the 2023-24 season.
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