Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard got a few “welcome to the league” hits from Penguins veteran Kris Letang in his NHL debut on Tuesday night. He also got a literal welcome to the league from perhaps an unlikely source.
Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL draft, has been touted as the league’s next big thing since before he was even drafted. On Tuesday, he finally made his pro debut, going head-to-head against a player he grew up idolizing: Sidney Crosby.
Bedard and Crosby both started for their teams, which meant that the kid and ‘Sid the Kid’ got to line up for the opening faceoff. It was a cool moment, made even cooler by the message referee Kelly Sutherland shared before he dropped the puck.
Opening faceoff between Crosby and Bedard 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Yk7N2Ki1Ho
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 11, 2023
“Hey, Sid. Welcome back for another season,” Sutherland said. “Connor, welcome to the NHL, man.”
That’s exactly the kind of moment ESPN was hoping for when the network announced that Bedard would be wearing a microphone for his debut.
Bedard lost the faceoff, but there’s no shame in that. Crosby, who won 53% of his faceoffs last season, is one of the best in the league on the draw. Bedard’s lack of success in the faceoff circle (2-for-11) was the only blemish on what was otherwise a very good debut. He picked up an assist in the second period and had a game-high five shot attempts. He’ll make his home debut in Chicago on Oct. 21.
