Good as gold: Bedard returns to Regina after leading Canada to world junior title

The star of the 2023 world junior hockey championship touched down in Regina on Friday afternoon with another gold medal and numerous Canadian records on his resumé.

A day after Canada beat Czechia 3-2 in overtime in the gold-medal game in Halifax, Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard got off a plane from Toronto revelling in his second world junior title in less than five months.

Bedard arrived at the Regina airport along with four of his Team Canada teammates, all of whom play for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Seattle is currently on its eastern road trip and is to face the Pats at the Brandt Centre on Friday night.

Bedard had been with Team Canada for almost a month. He had nothing but positive things to say about the tournament when he arrived in Regina on Friday.

“It was pretty cool, obviously with the crowds and everything as well,” he said in an exclusive interview with 980 CJME. “It was pretty electric every night, so it felt like all the world juniors before. To win it was obviously good.”

He felt the tournament was a lot different after playing in the summer tournament in Edmonton.

“It was a bit different, just with the normalcy of having it in the winter – kind of the tradition. For us, that was pretty cool and special,” he said.

Bedard’s performance at this year’s tournament was nothing short of special and will be considered one of the greatest ever.

He had 23 points in just seven games, which is the fourth-highest point total ever in a single tournament. He trailed only Sweden’s Peter Forsberg (31 in 1993), Markus Naslund of Sweden (24 in 1993) and Finland’s Raimo Helminen (24 in 1984).

Bedard also moved into fourth all-time for points in his world junior career. He has 36 points in 16 career games, six points behind Forsberg for top spot.

The 17-year-old Pats star also became Canada’s all-time leader in world junior goals and points, passing Jordan Eberle and Eric Lindros, respectively.

While most people would be in awe about the stats, Bedard shrugged off the achievement.

“I haven’t thought about it too much,” he said. “But obviously when you say those guys, it’s cool to have my name with those players.”

Throughout the tournament, fans flocked to the arenas to watch Canada and the other teams play over the course of 10 days.

The atmosphere rubbed off on Bedard and he called Halifax one of his favourite cities in the world during an interview with TSN. He clarified his personal rankings Friday.

“I’ll go Vancouver, Regina (and) then there,” said the product of North Vancouver, B.C. “It was pretty cool the way they embraced us and had us there. They made it really special for us.”

In order to get to the gold-medal game, Canada had to squeak out a 4-3 overtime win against Slovakia in a quarterfinal — Bedard scored the OT winner — and erase a 2-0 deficit in a 6-2 semifinal victory over the United States.

In Thursday’s final, Canada blew a 2-0 lead in the third period and the game went to overtime.

While the Canadian team might’ve been a little shocked, Bedard says his heart rate was fine.

“I was pretty confident in our group,” he said. “I think it’s a little better when you’re actually out there playing (rather) than watching. For us, we were confident and we thought we were going to win.”

Bedard played a good chunk of overtime, but Edmonton’s Dylan Guenther eventually scored to earn Canada the gold medal.

With the world juniors now over, Bedard will shift his attention to the Pats and his draft year. He’s expected to be the top pick in the 2023 NHL draft.

Bedard says he’s excited to see his Regina teammates for the first time in almost a month.

“I’m pretty pumped,” he said. “I missed the boys, so I’ll be excited to get back and get going here.”

Bedard wasn’t expected to be in the Pats’ lineup for Friday’s game against Seattle, but he could play Sunday against the visiting Calgary Hitmen. Regina defenceman Stanislav Svozil, who captained the Czech team, also wasn’t slated to play Friday.