BEDARD, PADDOCK MEET WITH MEDIA

Rookie Regina Pats phenom Connor Bedard and Pats GM John Paddock met with the media on Thursday for the first time since Bedard’s training stint with a junior team in Sweden ended. Their season was suspended due to the pandemic, so the 15-year old returned to Canada. The first Exceptional Player in WHL history is now home in White Rock, BC, getting ready for the WHL season to begin on January 8.

Here are some of his comments:

ON PLAYING IN SWEDEN

It was a lot like my everyday life here. You get up, you work out, you go to the rink and you skate. They’d go to school, and maybe I’d stay for a bit, and then we’d go back for more ice. It was pretty cool. They train a bit different than we do here so I learned some stuff I can incorporate into my game. Obviously just the experience of being in a different country, hearing them speak another language, was a pretty cool experience for me.

DO YOU EXPECT THE SEASON TO START ON JANUARY 8?

We’re aiming for that start, and hopefully it goes. If it doesn’t, I guess you keep training and see what happens.

HOW DID YOU FIND THE SWEDISH EXPERIENCE?

I think being in a schedule made it a lot more normal. I was at the rink all day, but some of the stuff with the language was a bit weird. With your buddies (back home) you’re going to bed and they’re just waking up. That aspect of it is a bit weird but it was cool to be in a different place and see new things. But a lot of my day was being at the rink so that made it an easy transition.

HOW ARE YOU SPENDING YOUR TIME NOW?

I’m kind of treating it like it’s the summer; go workout, train kind of stuff, but obviously I wish I could be in Regina right now. But that’s not the case so you have to just adapt and figure out the best way to improve your game.

JOHN PADDOCK COMMENTS

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SEASON:

I wouldn’t tell you if I did know. We need to be flexible, adaptable. Things can change positively and negatively. Our plans are dictated by different people from every organization. The Western Hockey league, being asked or being on some sort of committee or passing their thoughts on, officially or unofficially to people in the league.

We might have a tentative plan, but that’s a pretty short window.I’m still pretty positive about the league getting up and running without question.

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