ARLINGTON, VA– 2023 first overall pick Connor Bedard spent Tuesday at the Capitals’ practice facility as a participant in the NHLPA Rookie Showcase. Although he plays nearly 600 miles away in Chicago, Bedard has ties to DC through friends. Alexander Suzdalev and Andrew Cristall.
Suzdalev shared a line with Bedard for much of the 2022-23 season with the Regina Pats, while Cristall and Bedard met as kids while playing in Vancouver and now play in a roller-hockey league together.
Both players got a shout-out during Bedard’s press conference on Tuesday, where the Blackhawk-to-be highlighted the skills he’s seen up close.
“I love him,” Bedard said of Suzdalev. “It’s not easy coming from Europe and adjusting, but he’s getting better every game. He is one of the best players in the league. “
He first played in Suzdalev in Sweden for a short time with the junior teams of HV71. Suzdalev will make the jump to North America a few years later, joining Bedard with the WHL’s Regina Pats for the 2022-23 campaign.
Suzdalev scored more than a point per game in his rookie season, registering 86 points (38g, 48a) in 66 contests. That performance earned him the WHL’s Rookie of the Month award on three separate occasions, and Suzdalev was eventually named to the CHL’s All-Rookie Team.
Many of the points were with Bedard, who recorded an impressive time of his own. He scored 143 points (71g, 72a) in just 57 games for the Pats, becoming the first player in the league to hit 140 points since 1995-96.
Suzdalev shared his own high opinion of Bedard while speaking to RMNB in April.
“[He’s a] good leader in the locker room,” he said. “Leads by good example and I also knew him before when he was in Sweden so it was easy to talk to him. We are quite close. Just a good guy and sets good examples.”
Although Bedard did not play with Suzdalev until he was a teenager, he and Cristall’s friendship goes back a long way.
“[Cristall is] someone I’ve played with since I was five years old,” Bedard said. “Watching his development, there’s never been a time where he’s not producing. You play against older guys, for him, and just find a way to do it. Playing on a line with him it’s a lot of fun, and I think that’s what made me think that.
“Washington should be very happy about him. He’s a hell of a player and he’s going to be exciting to watch.
The two grew up playing the game together but rarely played on the same team, eventually playing for WHL teams more than 600 miles apart. However, they eventually became close friends. Cristall detailed the story during the Capitals’ Development Camp in July.
“We met playing spring hockey for the Vancouver Vipers,” he explained. “The friendship started from there and we started playing with each other in Bantam. We were rivals then teammates in the spring. So we grew up together, throughout hockey, and now we are with each other all the time in summer, so it’s really nice.
Although they spent most of their careers on opposite sides of the ice, Bedard and Cristall each raved about the other’s talent. Ahead of the DraftBedard called Cristall “probably the smartest hockey player I’ve ever played with” — especially high praise from a talent of Bedard’s caliber.
Cristall, on the other hand, knew that Bedard was the real deal before NHL teams even noticed.
“You see him when he was eight and nine, shooting the puck top shelf and skating around everything. So I think you could say early on that he was special.”
The pair could be teammates in the summer, even off the ice. Both spend their offseasons playing roller hockey for the Great Men on North Shore Inline Hockey League. Despite a star-studded roster that also featured Blue Jackets players Kent Johnson and Jake Christensen, the Great Guys were ultimately eliminated in this year’s semifinals.
Even though his team wasn’t very successful on roller skates, Bedard still saw that as an important part of his summer.
“It’s just something I’ve always done,” he said. “I found it good for me, the creativity of it. In the end it’s just fun and I have a lot of friends playing. That’s a big thing: you have to obviously have fun and that’s something I preach in many parts of myself. I love sports and that’s something I enjoy doing.
In a moment of serendipity, both Cristall and Suzdalev were at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Tuesday before the Capitals’ upcoming Rookie Camp. This may be the last time the three share a place for a long time. After an ice hockey season with Suzdalev and a roller hockey summer with Cristall, Bedard will enter new territory this fall with the Blackhawks. In a few years, however, his two friends could be their teammates. Bedard, for one, hopes to see it happen.
“Maybe they’ll run side by side one day. It’s a lot of fun to watch.”
Header image: Katie Adler/RMNB