Gretzky: 'I couldn't do' Bedard's lacrosse goal
Count Wayne Gretzky among the fans who marveled at Connor Bedard's lacrosse move goal against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.
"I couldn't do what he did tonight," Gretzky said on the Blues' broadcast. "That just wasn't in my repertoire. I didn't have the right kinda curve. (Brett Hull) could do it, I could never do what he did tonight."
Bedard scooped the puck up behind St. Louis' net and found the top corner above Jordan Binnington's left shoulder to tie the game at one.
OH MY CONNOR BEDARD pic.twitter.com/WUzWhEraJp
- Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 24, 2023
"He's been fun to watch," Gretzky added. "He's been better than we probably anticipated. He's been not only an ambassador on the ice, he's been tremendous off the ice for an 18-year-old young man. I'm happy for him, he's got the right coach in Luke Richardson, the right organization."
With his spectacular tally on Saturday, the rookie has 13 goals and 30 points in 33 games. Bedard leads the Blackhawks in scoring, clearing second-place Philipp Kurashev by 11. He also tops all freshmen by nine, with Minnesota Wild forward Marco Rossi trailing.
Bedard wasn't the only player to pull off the move on Saturday. Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras scored with the "Michigan" in his return to the lineup against the Seattle Kraken after a 20-game absence.
ZEGRAS RETURNS TO THE LINEUP AND HITS THE MICHIGAN! pic.twitter.com/3cqQyxwGTm
- NHL (@NHL) December 24, 2023
It's the first time in NHL history that two players scored using the lacrosse-style move on the same night.
Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov was the first player to successfully score a "Michigan" in an NHL game, doing so against the Calgary Flames in October 2019.
The move was made famous by University of Michigan forward Mike Legg, who performed it in the 1996 NCAA tournament against Minnesota.
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