Connor Bedard inspires new segment on Pat McAfee’s ESPN show originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Just two games into the regular season, one thing about is abundantly clear.
The eyes of the world are on Connor Bedard.
The NHL has used it’s partnerships with TNT and ESPN to market the league to American audiences in a similar manner to how it markets the NFL, NBA and MLB. One thing the NHL has failed at throughout it’s existence, and specifically in the social media era, is marketing its star players. Guys like Wayne Gretzky, Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid have certainly broken through the celebrity threshold, but there’s something different about the coverage surrounding this year’s first-overall pick.
From the moment the Vegas Golden Knights hoisted the Stanley Cup in June, the league immediately turned its attention to Bedard. The rare diamond from North Vancouver would soon belong to them, and they had a responsibility to the sport of hockey to capitalize on it.
The NHL’s partnership with ESPN, which was re-established two years ago, is the league’s most important avenue through which to grow the sport. With it’s ability to deliver non-stop content to tens of millions of people across all platforms, the network has the power to make a house-hold name out of almost anyone. And they’ve made one thing abundantly clear — every casual sports fans in America will know Connor Bedard’s name.
On Thursday, Pat McAfee introduced a new segment on his live ESPN show titled “Hockey is Awesome.”
McAfee began the segment with a rambunctious play-by-play call of Bedard’s first NHL goal, which the 18-year-old scored in the first period of Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.
“He’s got dangles. He’s got behind-the-back passes. He’s got a shot, rebound, wrap-around, GOAAAAAL,” he exclaimed.
The popular pundit then broke down a play in which Blackhawks center Jason Dickinson dropped the gloves with Bruins center Johnny Beecher after the latter slammed forward Cole Guttman into the boards with a cheap hit from behind.
“You do that to my guy, I am fighting you,” McAfee said in praise of Dickinson. “There was never a doubt. There was no hesitation. It was just said, ‘well, we’re fighting now because of what you did to my friend.’ There needs to be more than in our society.
“We’ve gone away from protecting our friends, from protecting our teammates. Hockey has never forgotten that if you mess with my guy, I have to punch your face in regardless of it. Speaking of punching faces in, they still have fights. They still have fights that are being pumped up about.
“And that, my friends, is the hockey culture. And that is why I think if you’re not a hockey fan, you need to buy in. The humans are awesome. The sport is fantastic.”
As evidenced by Tuesday’s record-breaking viewership count for a regular season NHL game on ESPN — with 1.43 million viewers tuning into watch Bedard’s debut against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins — the sport itself is entering a new era.
Hockey, of course, has always been awesome.
And with more stars power and pundits like McAfee pushing the game to a larger audience, a lot more people are going to know it.
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