2022 World Juniors Notebook: Connor Bedard's magic, Mason McTavish's physical skills and Olen Zellweger's dynamism
If we had to pick one shift to illustrate Connor Bedard's domination at the IIHF World Junior Championship tournament so far, it would be the 8:30 mark of the first period of his game against Czechia.
For 50 seconds, a frame that probably felt too short to the audience and extremely long to the tired defenders on the ice, Bedard controlled the play. He showed a total superiority of both skill and sense, an ability to spot vulnerabilities in the defence and exploit them, and a talent for creating out of nothing.
Bedard manipulated defenders through movement, through his stickhandling, and with passes. He supported plays as they were happening, and even before they happened, and generated a succession of scoring chances each more dangerous than the other.
His four shots, all of them coming f