It was nearing a capacity crowd at the Scotiabank Saddledome as the Regina Pats beat the Calgary Hitmen 6-5 in a shootout.
An announced crowd of 17,223 fans made its way to the arena to get a glimpse of Pats superstar Connor Bedard. That’s the largest crowd for any WHL game this season.
The 17-year-old Bedard leads the WHL with 90 points in 36 games — 21 points more than Winnipeg Ice forward Zach Benson. Bedard is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft in June.
Bedard had a goal and an assist in regulation as well as the shootout winner for the Pats (23-21-2-1). Tanner Brown and Alexander Suzdalev both added one goal while Braxton Whitehead scored twice — including a goal with just 34 seconds left in the third period to force the extra period.
Calgary (23-17-5-2) got goals from Blake Heward, Carter Yakemchuk, Tomis Marinkovic, Sean Tschigerl and London Hoilett.
Regina will continue with its Alberta road trip on Friday against the Lethbridge Hurricanes (27-16-3-2).