Bedard authors yet another incredible chapter as Pats star becomes youngest to score 50 goals in a WHL season

The illustrious story of Connor Bedard just gets better and better by the day.

On Sunday evening, the Regina Pats phenom registered a five-point performance in a 7-4 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors, including scoring his 50th and 51st goals of the season as he reached 100 points in a mere 62 games played.

Hitting the 50-goal milestone with only 6:10 remaining in regulation, Bedard did so in typical Bedard fashion – unleashing a wicked wrist shot that eluded the glove hand of the goaltender.

That puck finding twine etched Bedard into the WHL record books as the youngest player to score 50 goals in a single season. To be precise, the product of North Vancouver accomplished the feat at the age of 16 years, nine months and one day. The previous record holder – Glen Goodall of the Seattle Thunderbirds – had already turned 17 years old when he scored his 50th goal in the spring of 1987.

Aside from becoming the youngest player in WHL history to register 50 goals in a season, the 5-foot-9, 181-pound Bedard also managed to become only the third player in WHL history to collect 100 points in his 16-year-old season. He joins Dan Lucas of the Victoria Cougars (1974-75) and his 113 points (57G-56A), Goodall (63G-49A–112 points), and Ken Yaremchuk, who tallied 107 points (35G-72A) during his 16-year-old season with the Portland Winterhawks back in 1980-81.

The 100th point of Bedard’s season came in the dying moments on Sunday, as he deposited his second goal of the game and 51st of the season into an empty net with 24 seconds go in the third period. As the 748th game of the 2021-22 WHL Regular Season came to a close, the second-year Pat found himself finishing fourth in the WHL in points with 100 and second in the WHL in goals with 51.

💯 Just call him the Century Man 💯

Connor Bedard caps a five-point afternoon to reach the 100-point plateau on the season!@WHLPats | #CB98 pic.twitter.com/QTjMbFz0bI

— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 18, 2022

All in all, Bedard’s 2021-22 campaign was one to behold. Prior to departing for the World Junior Championship in December, he had earned himself a relatively average 24 points (14G-10A) in 24 games for the Pats. Upon his return from the COVID-shortened World Junior Championship in January, Bedard exploded. The second half of the WHL Regular Season saw the star rifle home 76 points (37G-39A) in only 38 games – a pace of exactly two points per game – as he tried desperately to lift his Club on his shoulders and carry them into the WHL post-season.

Woven into the fabric of Bedard’s superb sophomore season were some incredible moments. Obviously the exclamation point stands on April 17 with a five-point performance including his 50th goal and 100th point.

Then there’s the highlight-reel goal he scored in Calgary on February 6 – a pure skill strike that broke the hockey world on a Sunday afternoon.

What about his four-goal performance on New Year’s Day as he returned to the Regina Pats lineup on the heels of the disappointment of dashed hopes at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, thanks to COVID-19 cancelling the tournament. Oh yeah, that came mere days after he had become the youngest player in World Junior Championship history to score four goals in a game – converting four times for Canada on December 28.

There was another five-point performance on February 11 in a home ice triumph over the Calgary Hitmen.

The ledger of highlight-reel plays extends well beyond the space on this page. The list of awe-inspiring moments goes on, and surely will become longer and more impressive before Bedard’s time in the WHL is done.

To date, Bedard is the first and only player to have been granted exceptional status to play in the WHL as a 15-year-old. But there is a list of six exceptional status players that came before him across the entire Canadian Hockey League, including the likes of Connor McDavid, John Tavares, and Aaron Ekblad.

For McDavid, who enjoyed a successful run with the OHL’s Erie Otters from 2012 through 2015, his 16-year-old season included 28 goals and 99 points in 56 games for 1.77 points per game. Bedard’s 100 points in 62 games ring in at 1.61 points per game. Not too bad.

McDavid went on to finish his OHL career with 285 points (97G-188A) in 166 career Regular Season appearances. He was named OHL Rookie of the Year (2012-13), OHL Most Sportsmanlike Player (2013-14) and finally OHL Most Outstanding Player and CHL Player of the Year (2014-15). Time will tell what Bedard has in store for the rest of his time in the WHL. If his first two seasons are any indication, hockey fans in Western Canada are in for a treat when Bedard returns for 2022-23 – his NHL Draft season.

51 goals, 100 points 😍#MarchOn pic.twitter.com/dwu6JDtZS1

— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) April 18, 2022

Since first stepping on the ice in the WHL on March 12, 2021, the shifty scorer has been turning heads. He was the first ever exceptional status player in CHL history to score twice in his debut. He was named the WHL’s East Division Rookie of the Year in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season after managing 28 points (12G-16A) in only 15 games. Now, a 100-point and 51-goal sophomore season as a 16-year-old most certainly has him in the running for recognition on the WHL Awards stage.

Over 77 career WHL Regular Season games to date, Bedard has notched 128 points (63G-65A) – good enough for 1.66 points per game in his career.

For fans lucky enough to have seen Connor Bedard grace WHL ice, cherish it. For those who have yet to see him live, make sure you take advantage of the opportunity before he moves onward and upward, because that day is coming soon.