Bedard talks about playing for Canada at the World Championships in Q&A with NHL.com
In NHL.com’s Q&A feature called “Sitting Down with…”, we talk to figures from the game, getting insights into their lives on and off the ice. In this edition, we feature Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard, who represents Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Czechia through May 26 after a successful rookie season after being selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Draft of the NHL.
PRAGUE – Connor Bedard won’t be taking much time off after his first season in the NHL.
The 18-year-old Chicago Blackhawks center, who led all league rookies with 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) in 68 games this season, will don the red and white colors of Canada as they prepare to open play at Saturday against Great. Great Britain at the 2024 IIHF World Championship, which began on Friday and runs until May 26. Bedard spoke with NHL.com/international about being in Europe and his expectations for the World Cup.
What has the whole European experience been like for you so far? Did you enjoy visiting Vienna and Budapest and now Prague?
“I’m really excited to take a look around and see some things. There’s a lot of things to see here. We’ve been to Vienna and Budapest and it was great. Really good places. Really beautiful cities and places that I’ve never been to. So it was cool to take a look around and see what they are like.
Did this recent trip to Austria/Hungary serve as a good team-building opportunity for you and the folks at Team Canada?
“Yes. For sure. You know, taking a look around together and exploring more new places with the team, it was really fun. Now we have to get together on the ice and prepare, building the team is the most important thing for us.”
You can face (Blackhawks goalie) Petr Mrazek in the group stage when playing against Czechia, the home team. Are you looking forward to it?
“Yeah, I really hope to score on him and earn bragging rights. But no, he had an unreal year for us. He was our MVP every night and we were so lucky to have him. So super, super talented, good goalkeeper Even in training, it’s not easy to score for him, but I hope we can score some of them. We don’t play (Czech) until the end of the round robin, so I hope we can get better and better.”
There are a lot of centers on Canada’s roster and it looks like you might not play center. How different would it be for you to be on the ward?
“I don’t think I’ll play (center), but I mean, every international team I feel will have players that play all over the place and maybe play a new position. But you know, we all play every position. So it’s not a big adjustment for us, and we’ll have some time to build on that as the tournament progresses.”
Do you think playing in the World Championship can help improve your game?
“I think it’s good when you play with these guys and see how they are off the ice, on the ice… And also against the best players in the world, like I did in the NHL, that can definitely help. I think it will be good for me and all the guys here.”
You don’t have much experience playing on the biggest international ice surface. What do you expect from this?
“I don’t know. I only played a few games when I was 15. I don’t remember all the differences, there might be a little more open ice here. But we’ll see.”
