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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
Connor Bedard‘s home debut with the Chicago Blackhawks will unsurprisingly be the hottest ticket in town.
According to Vivid Seats, a ticket exchange and resale company, the average ticket sold for Bedard’s first game at the United Center on Saturday against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights is $209.
That’s trending as the highest ticket price a Blackhawks’ game has generated in five years and is nearly 50% higher than the next highest price for a ticket in that span — a Dec. 27, 2019, game against the New York Islanders, at $148.
Vivid Seats has also tracked fans coming from up to 300 miles away to see the first of many Bedard home games.
Chicago selected the 18-year-old center first overall in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, and coach Luke Richardson inserted Bedard directly into a prominent top-line role within Chicago’s offense. Bedard played in his first NHL game on the league’s opening night, taking on Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Vancouver native was matched against Crosby for the game’s opening faceoff, a draw he lost to the three-time Stanley Cup champion in a memorable moment.
Bedard registered his first NHL point that night with an assist, and he has three points in five outings, including one goal, scored in his second NHL game against Boston, and two assists. Those contests have all been on the road, as Chicago opened its schedule with a lengthy trip taking Bedard through some other Original Six cities, including Montreal and Toronto.
The Blackhawks coveted Bedard for good reason in the draft, and despite inevitable early growing pains, the teenage star is already proving his mettle at the next level. Bedard is coming off a 71-point, 143-point effort with the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats, his second consecutive year with 100 points or more, and he came out of the gate for Chicago with points in each of his first three games.
Bedard has been held without a point in his past two games, something that never happened last season with the Pats, and will be looking to remedy that while playing to the home crowd on Saturday.