A 16-year-old Connor Bedard was a bit of a curiosity last December when he started the abbreviated World Junior Championships tournament as Canada’s 13th forward. But after scoring four goals in just his second game, he’s never looked back.
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Eight months later, he is Canada’s first-line right winger, expected to be a driving force in their gold medal charge.
“I’ve had a few months since that tournament and you get older and stronger and stuff like that,” said the 17-year-old, who is listed at five-foot-nine and 181 pounds. “But I think the goal still remains the same.
“I’m on a line with (Mason) McTavish and (Josh) Roy right now and that’s a pretty good line. And it’s definitely cool for me. But I think whether it be first line, second line, 13th forward, you’re going to do whatever you can to help. And the goal is always to win a gold medal, not about personal stuff.”
But there is certainly more pressure on his young shoulders this time around. With nine of Canada’s top players choosing not to attend, and his trajectory as the consensus first overall pick in the 2023 draft, Canada is counting on him to live up to the hype.
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That might be difficult given the hype, but Bedard isn’t getting caught up in any of that. He’ll let his game speak for itself.
“I’m not too sure what people expect. But I think if you’re seeing the lineup or something, maybe there’s a little more thoughts on what my performance will be. But personally, I haven’t really thought about it too much and I’m just going to go and do what I can to help.”
SWEDEN HANGS ON
Team Sweden opened its tournament with a nail-biting 3-2 decision over Switzerland Wednesday, building a 3-0 lead through 48 minutes before fending off a furious comeback attempt in front of 150 fans at Rogers Place.
The Swedes were not happy with their performance.
“We can’t be soft,” said Swedish defenceman Simon Edvinsson. “They were hungry, they want to win against us. We are a big nation here, everyone wants to beat us. We have a little bit to work on. We need to take the energy with us and start building from this game.”
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Sweden broke open a game that was scoreless through 36 minutes with three goals in 3:41, including two goals in 36 seconds to start the third period. But the Swiss Army landed a couple of quick strikes of its own, scoring at 8:47 and 9:47 to close it to 3-2, and had a five-minute power play with 6:58 to play, but that would be as close as they got.
“The third period, we have to start better, those two goals can’t happen,” said Attilio Biasca, who scored the first goal for Switzerland. “We got back with two goals, but we have to be better on a five-minute power play.”
SAD NEWS IN SWEDEN
The Swedes were playing with heavy hearts after learning that one of the best players their country has ever produced — Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Borje Salming — has been diagnosed with ALS.
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The 71-year-old Hall of Famer made the news public Wednesday and it reached the Swedish dressing room in an instant.
“These players are pretty young, but for us coaches and staff, we talked about it this morning,” said Swedish coach Tomas Monten. “It’s just sad news. We just hope that everything goes well.
“He’s one of the biggest players we’ve ever had. If you ever go to Toronto and get in a taxi cab and say you’re Swedish, you get all the stories. I just hope that it goes well.”
Players who were born long after Salming retired still understand his magnitude on the Swedish hockey team.
“He’s a legend,” said defenceman Edvinsson. “He’s a legend everywhere. I just heard about the news. He’s a fighter. He has all of Sweden behind him.”
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“He’s an amazing player, one of the best players Sweden ever had,” added Winnipeg Jets draft pick Daniel Torgersson. “Great career.”
SLOVAKIA ON THE MOVE
It was a seismic shift on the world stage for Slovakia when their players went first and second in the last draft, with Simon Nemec going second overall to New Jersey.
Neither player came back to Edmonton for the summer tournament, but they are already heroes in their country.
“I think that’s huge,” said Slovakian goaltender Simon Latkoczy. “I’m so proud for our country and those guys who are making those steps for Hockey Slovakia. We can see that Slovakian hockey is growing in the world. I just hope it’s going to continue and hopefully we can add another step to that.”
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“It’s the first big step for us,” added centre Jakub Demek. “Just like the bronze medal in the Olympic Games was a big step. Our hockey is going up. It shows how hard we’ve been working the last years. I hope it will continue.”
CAGE MATCH
Logan Stankoven has been rocking a full cage this week after catching a puck in the face in practice a few days ago.
“Luckily I didn’t lose any teeth,” said the Canadian forward. “I wasn’t wearing a mouthguard because we usually don’t in practice because they’re kind of annoying, you have to take them in and out all the time.
“It was just an unfortunate accident. Wrong place, wrong time. It’s healing up now pretty good, just got the stitches out Tuesday.”
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