The story behind Connor Bedard's lethal shot

The Canadian phenom's skills coach maintains the 17-year-old Bedard shoots the puck better than most NHL players and predicts he will, "create a new generation of shooters"

Connor Bedard “shoots the puck better than some NHLers who are 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds,” according to his skills coach.

When Connor Bedard took a pass from Mason McTavish at the end of a long shift, then closed his eyes and fired the puck from the top of the right circle past the outstretched stick of Finnish defender Joni Jurmo and over the left shoulder of goalie Leevi Merilainen at 17:19 of the first period Monday night, it was one of those rare moments where the hockey world stood still. Here was a kid who has just turned 17 unleashing an NHL-calibre shot in an international tournament. Not just an NHL shot, an elite, Joe Sakic-like shot.

For a team that is missing at least nine players who would have been eligible to play in this summer’s World Junior Championship, Canada has an incredible array of skill. It showed up earlier in the tournament when Kent Johnson managed to score a ‘Michigan’ goal against the Czech Republic. But in some ways, Bedard’s goal in Canada’s 6-3 win over Finland was even more impressive. After all, players are successfully pulling off ‘The Michigan’ with increasing regularity these days. Nobody, but nobody, in this age group shoots the puck the way Bedard does. The puck comes off Bedard’s 70-flex Bauer Nexus 2N Pro XL stick like a rocket.