WEDNESDAY CAT COUNTRY COMMENTARY – THE PIED PIPER

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary daily at 9:50 am and 5:20 pm on Cat Country 98 FM)

CONNOR BEDARD IS TURNING OUT TO BE A TRAILBLAZER IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE.

THE 15-YEAR OLD HOCKEY PLAYING PHENOM FROM VANCOUVER BECAME THE FIRST PLAYER IN WHL HISTORY TO BE NAMED AN EXCEPTIONAL PLAYER BY HOCKEY CANADA THIS SPRING.

THEN HE WAS CHOSEN NUMBER-ONE OVERALL BY MY REGINA PATS, AND HE WAS ALL SET TO BEGIN HIS JUNIOR CAREER IN THE QUEEN CITY THIS FALL.

THEN COVID HIT AND HERE WE ARE.

ON MONDAY THE PATS ANNOUNCED BEDARD IS HEADED TO SWEDEN TO PLAY HIS JUNIOR HOCKEY THIS FALL WHILE THE WHL SORTS OUT ITS SEASON.

PATS G-M JOHN PADDOCK SAID IN A NEWS RELEASE THAT BEDARD GOES WITH THE TEAM’S BLESSING, AND THEY LOOK FORWARD TO HIS RETURN ONCE THE LEAGUE STARTS PLAY.

WHETHER THE DUB PLAYS THIS YEAR OR NOT IS A TOPIC FOR ANOTHER TIME BUT IT SEEMS LIKE WISHFUL THINKING TO ME.

BEDARD’S FAMILY IS BEING CRITICIZED BY SOME FOR SENDING THEIR 15-YEAR OLD HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD TO FURTHER HIS HOCKEY CAREER.

ALL WE SAY TO THAT IS – ‘MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS’.

THE PLAYER I CALL “JUSTIN BIEBER ON SKATES” MAY HAVE TRIGGERED A PARADE OF MAJOR JUNIOR PLAYERS TO EUROPE TO PLAY IN COUNTRIES WHERE SPORTS HASN’T BEEN MOTHBALLED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

YOU CAN’T BLAME THEM FOR THAT … AND YOU’LL ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT BEDARD WAS THE FIRST.

THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY ON CAT COUNTRY 98.