PITTSBURGH — As a longtime Blackhawks fan living just outside Cleveland, Keith Bracken is accustomed to making road trips to other Midwestern cities just to see the Hawks play.
Back in May, well before the NHL’s 2023-24 schedule release, he had already begun mentally preparing to drive to Pittsburgh this October. And that was for one reason and one reason only: to see Connor Bedard’s debut — against Sidney Crosby, no less — with his own eyes.
“As soon as they won the lottery and were going to get Bedard, I said to my son, ‘They’re going to have opening night in Pittsburgh,’” Bracken said. “‘ESPN is not going to miss matching up Bedard’s first game against his boyhood hero.’”
Sure enough, Bracken and his son bought Penguins tickets the moment they went on sale this summer and made the 2.5-hour drive Tuesday to PPG Paints Arena.
They were not the only Hawks fans for whom attending Bedard’s debut necessitated a Pittsburgh pilgrimage. Around the city on Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of red No. 98 jerseys mixed in with the typical yellow-and-black hues.
Kirk Cherry was one of those visitors. When deciding months ago what to do with his company-mandated week off, this idea came to him.
“I was like, ‘Well, the Hawks got Connor Bedard. Let’s see how expensive it is to go to his first couple games,’” Cherry said. “I gave it a look, and it was cheaper than I expected.”
On Wednesday, he’ll fly to Boston to also attend the second leg of Bedard’s first career NHL back-to-back.
“It’s almost surreal being here because this kid has been talked about and hyped up for years now,” he said. “To actually have him on the Hawks just blows my mind.”
Jess Diaz, a Hawks season-ticket holder for 18 years, knew she had a work conflict with the Oct. 21 home opener, so she figured she ought to attend the season opener instead.
She flew in from Chicago, her dad flew in from New Jersey, and meeting in the middle, they fueled each other’s excitement about what they consider a “new era” for the Hawks.
“It’s new life within the organization,” Diaz said. “The young stars, they know what the end goal is and they have the drive to do it. There aren’t a lot of words to say other than ‘unbelievable.’”
Leadership group
With no primary captain this season, the Hawks’ alternate captains will be Seth Jones and Connor Murphy, with newcomer veterans Nick Foligno and Corey Perry also rotating wearing the third “A.”
Coach Luke Richardson was also quick to point out that Tyler Johnson and Taylor Hall will be relied upon as leaders, too, despite not holding official titles.
The announcement was inadvertently spoiled two weeks ago by the Hawks’ social media accounts. Considering Jones and Murphy were also alternate captains last season beneath Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, though, it was hardly a surprise.
This and that
- Colton Dach’s right ankle injury occurred in the preseason finale Saturday in St. Louis, explaining why he was placed on the injured list Monday rather than sent to Rockford to start his professional career. But X-ray results showed nothing broken, Richardson said.
- In the wake of former associate general manager Jeff Greenberg’s departure for the Detroit Tigers, Ryan Kruse has been officially named the new head of the Hawks’ analytics department, GM Kyle Davidson said Tuesday. Kruse is an internal hire; he had been the second-highest ranking person below Greenberg.
