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By Brett Lubkiwski
The WHL’s Regina Pats are in Calgary on Wednesday for the second game of their four-game Alberta road trip and it’s going to be another packed house.
That’s becoming commonplace for games in which Connor Bedard plays.
The Scotiabank Saddledome is expected to have every one of its 19,289 seats filled to see the Pats superstar take the ice. In fact, the game could set a WHL record for highest attendance for an indoor game; the record of 19,305 was set March 16, 2008 at the Saddledome.
Cassandra Vilgrain, the communications co-ordinator for the Calgary Hitmen, said the club has had big attendances in the past, but the buzz for Wednesday night’s game is on another level.
“It’s very exciting for us and exciting for junior hockey having a generational player like Connor Bedard in the building,” said Vilgrain.
The Pats are selling out arenas everywhere they go, especially since Bedard helped Canada win a gold medal at the world junior hockey championship in Halifax. Teams in the WHL are hoping that will help bring in new fans who will want to come back again.
“Anytime we get a different demographic in the building, we’re hoping to attract more fans,” said Vilgrain. “A lot of people don’t realize that they have the opportunity to watch future stars and that’s what we’ve been promoting for the past few years.”
This will also be the first of three times this season that Bedard and the Pats are to be featured on national television. TSN will be broadcasting Wednesday’s contest (8 p.m., TSN 1 and 3) as a part of its partnership with the Canadian Hockey League.
WHL commissioner Ron Robison said the buzz that surrounds Bedard whenever he plays is something Robison has never seen before.
“It has created a tremendous interest throughout Alberta and the Western Hockey League,” Robison said. “This kind of attendance is unheard of this season and unprecedented for one player to have the impact that Connor is having in our league right now.”
The Pats already helped one team set an attendance record on the trip. When the Pats stopped in Red Deer on Tuesday, a Rebels franchise record of 7,287 fans packed the Peavey Mart Centrium.
Regina also is to make stops in Medicine Hat and Lethbridge on this road trip in front of what are expected to be sold-out crowds. The Pats then are to return to the Brandt Centre — which had sellout crowds of 6,499 fans for Regina’s previous two home games — for a game Feb. 11 against the Moose Jaw Warriors.
During Regina’s road trip into Bedard’s home province of B.C. at the end of November, the Pats drew crowds of 5,276 (against the Vancouver Giants), 7,006 (Victoria Royals), 6,407 (Kelowna Rockets), 5,544 (Kamloops Blazers) and 6,027 (Prince George Cougars).
The Pats finished that trip in Edmonton, where a crowd of 8,264 gathered in Rogers Place to which Regina face the Oil Kings.
Bedard’s impact on the league has far exceeded what Robison believed was possible when Bedard became the first player in WHL history to be given exceptional status. That allowed him to play full time in the league as a 15-year-old.
“When you watch how (Bedard) performs night in and night out, he has just taken it to another level and as a result he’s generating a lot of interest throughout our league,” said Robison.
Teams around the league are hoping people coming to see Bedard play will lead to a spillover effect for attendance in the future. While there may be some long-term gains, Robison believes the chance to see the projected first pick in the upcoming NHL draft is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“It will stimulate interest (in the WHL) and create more attention for fans attending games, but this is probably a one-time phenomena that we’re all experiencing and it’s great to see. We’re enjoying the moment just like all the fans are,” said Robison.
The buzz that surrounds the 17-year-old has not been overhyped. Bedard is currently on a 10-game goal-scoring streak — during which he has scored 21 times — and a 34-game point streak.
He had a goal and two assists in Tuesday’s 6-5 overtime loss to Red Deer, giving him 43 goals and 45 assists for a league-leading 88 points in just 35 games played this season.
It’s a big game for the Pats, who currently sit in the eighth and final playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, only one point ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers.