It’s the first weekend of the hockey season for the majority of the players taking part in the Regina Pats training camp, but for Connor Bedard, he’s already warmed up.
The Pats forward is fresh off from capturing a gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Edmonton in August for Team Canada, he reflected on the championship experience.
“We can feel the excitement with this group, to come back for it, I was pumped for it.”
Bedard added that he was apart of a special team.
“When you have such a good group we had and to have that gold medal is such a honour.”
Winning a gold medal at the World Juniors during the summer months didn’t a damper on the achievement for the 17 year old.
“It felt pretty normal”, he added that all that matter was getting the same gold medals in August that they would’ve gotten earlier in the year.
Bedard is looking forward to competing at the World Juniors in Halifax this upcoming holiday season.
“Halifax is a cool spot, I’m not going to think about it too much now, but when the time hopefully comes, I’ll be excited for it. ”
Last season, the North Vancouver product led the Pats with 51 goals and ended off his season picking up 100 points.
Even a player as renowned as the Bedard, he is still finding an area of his game that he can improve on ahead of a brand new campaign.
“I think becoming a better all around player, every year that’s something I’m trying to improve on, I think I’ve been able to get better at it a bit every year. ”
Connor Bedard answers questions after practice
From his perspective at training camp, Bedard believes his Pats teammates have elevated their game over the summer.
“I think everybody has improved from what I’ve seen, I’ve only been here for a couple of days, but everyone seems faster and stronger.”
After a pair of seasons where Bedard’s touring schedule has been limited due to COVID restrictions, he is looking forward to travelling west, including to B.C.
With him being the odds on favourite to be selected as the number one pick in the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, Bedard is focusing on the season at hand since the draft is many months away.
He added that his approach for this season he says is to keep the game fun and to just enjoy the game that he loves.
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Training camp for the Pats will continue through the weekend. Admission is free for fans that wish to attend.
On Tuesday night, the Blue and White game will take place at the Brandt Centre.
The preseason for the Pats will begin on Friday with a home and home set against the Prince Albert Raiders. Regina will welcome the Raiders on Saturday.