NHL
Connor Bedard Names Sidney Crosby and Auston Matthews as His Favorite NHL Players
Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sports7 in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sports7, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he's a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie. Growing up loving Shaquille O'Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he's continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives. As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He's barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe's big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level. Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.
Get to know Joe Kozlowski betterUpdated30 Jun 2023
While having a favorite NHL player may seem like something that's isolated to fans, almost every athlete grew up idolizing someone. Take Connor Bedard as the perfect example of that. While the British Colombia native seems like the league's next big star, he still has a couple of favorites who are already in the league.
The teenager didn't just shout out any two players, though. He picked two of the ice game's modern elite — Sidney Crosby and Auston Matthews — both of which tell us a bit about Bedard and his game. Let's break it down.
Connor Bedard is fittingly a fan of both Auston Matthews and Sidney Crosby
While the coolness factor does matter, most young athletes pick their favorite heroes based on some sort of stylistic similarity or aspirational aim. Connor Bedard may be a bit more established — he's already dominated World Juniors and seems poised for NHL stardom — but that can still be seen in his choice of hockey players.
In a TSN Youtube short, the former Regina Pats forward was asked about the identity of his favorite hockey player. While he was only asked for one name, Bedard offered two: Sidney Crosby and Auston Matthews. And while those names might sound like a typical cliched hockey answer, they both make sense.
In regard to the former star, Crosby is Canada's premier center, and Bedard shares a position and nationality with the Penguins ace. The teenager will probably never play exactly the same as Sid the Kid — the current Regina Pat is more of a pure offensive talent than a two-way threat — but Crosby is still someone worth emulating.
The comparison to Matthews is a bit more obvious. Not only are both players explosive scorers, but Bedard has talked openly about emulating the Maple Leaf's drag shot.
“Even now, I’ll just search up videos on shooting, or just watch his goals,” Bedard told Thomas Drance of The Athletic. “I think I’ve seen all of his goals. It’s something I enjoy doing, and I use it a lot. He obviously created it, and it’s become the shot I use the most. … I don’t quite remember what year it was, but after I saw that, it was something that really popped to me. It was something I just needed to be able to do. Not that I’m going to be able to do it as well as him, but it was something I started working on after that.”
Will the teenager be exactly like either Sidney Crosby or Auston Matthews? Probably not. Inspiration, however, is the most sincere form of flattery. And, if nothing else, Connor Bedard certainly has the skill to follow in their footsteps.
