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Connor Bedard will step onto the ice in Vancouver as an NHL player for the first time on Saturday in a highly anticipated,\u00a0yet costly, moment for the wonderkid.<\/p>\n
The North Vancouver native and 2023 No. 1 overall pick will lead the Chicago Blackhawks (6\u20139-1) against the Canucks at Rogers Arena, fulfilling a childhood dream.<\/p>\n
“It’s pretty cool,”\u00a0Bedard said via NHL.com. “I have a lot of friends and family who will be there watching.<\/p>\n
“It’ll be different than playing on the road, just knowing that I’m playing in my hometown.”<\/p>\n
Last season, Bedard was sidelined during Chicago’s visit to Vancouver due to a broken jaw, making Saturday’s matchup significant.<\/p>\n
However, the homecoming comes at a price. With high demand for tickets from friends and family, Bedard joked, “I’ll be paying to play for a night,” as\u00a0he told Tracey Myers of NHL.com. “But it’ll be good to have some people there.”<\/p>\n
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It cannot be argued that Bedard’s rise to stardom has been steady since entering the professional ranks last season and winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie in 2024.<\/p>\n
This year, however, he’s struggled a bit during the first month of play. After scoring nine points in his first nine games, Bedard has managed just four in the last seven.<\/p>\n
“Definitely not playing great the last little bit, so I’ll try to be better,” Bedard told\u00a0Rob Couch of The Hockey News\u00a0on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Blackhawks (6-10-1)\u00a0have 13 points in 17 games compared to the Canucks’ 19 points in 15 matchups through Friday’s slate. Vancouver’s 8-4-3 record is the seventh-best in the Eastern Conference compared to Chicago’s leaving them 14th in the conference standings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Connor Bedard will step onto the ice in Vancouver as an NHL player for the first time on Saturday in a highly anticipated,\u00a0yet costly, moment for the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago-blackhawks"],"yoast_head":"\n