Matvei Michkov welcomes Connor Bedard’s parents to Vancouver

For several months now, Russian hopeful Matvei Michkov has been the talk of the town for a variety of reasons.

Now that the draft is over, we hear less about him, but he remains a polarizing subject.

Recently, Michkov took part in a podcast in Russia to discuss, among other things, Connor Bedard.

The two quality prospects have often been put in the same sentence this year, but they’ve only seen each other once, on draft weekend 2023.

That one time didn’t stop the two talented young players from forging a bond, via an interpreter.

We discovered this when Michkov appeared on the podcast, as the subject of Connor Bedard came up.

I won’t attempt to pronounce, or rewrite, the name of the page that published some excerpts from this interview with the Russian hopeful, but you can see the first excerpt, right here…

The excerpt above is about Connor Bedard’s parents.

This is actually the part of the interview that surprised me the most, but still comforts me to hear this.

Michkov met Connor Bedard’s parents and says they were very jovial with him.

They even told him that if he comes to Vancouver, he’s welcome to stay with them anytime.

In response, Michkov told them the same thing, although the chances of the reverse happening are much smaller.

Michkov also talked about the big dinner with hundreds of draft prospects and their families.

He was impressed by the magnitude of the dinner when he came to North America.

After a brief moment of silence, he said something that made me laugh.

“There were a lot of hopefuls, they were all there. Between 200 and 300 people with everyone’s families… No women, but the mothers and fathers were there.” – Matvei Michkov

Among all the hopefuls present, Bedard joined Michkov in saying that he was delighted to meet him.

It just goes to show that Bedard is a classy young man with good manners.

He points out that they were able to chat using an interpreter, and that’s where the two players began to bond.

Michkov returned briefly to his father’s tragic situation during the interview.

When it happened, back in April, that’s when the first exchange between the two players occurred.

With all his class, Connor Bedard wrote to Mishkov to offer his condolences, while telling him that he was there for him.

He went on to reassure him that everything was going to be okay, that he was going to be successful, and that if there was anything else, to write to him.

One of the interviewers echoed at the end of the clip above that field hockey is first and foremost a big family, and this proves it even more.

He also mentioned what happened with prospect Ivan Miroshnichenko. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ first-round pick in 2022 was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

This is a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system, which is part of the immune system and can spread easily throughout the body.

Fortunately for Miroshnichenko, it’s one of the easiest cancers to treat and he was diagnosed in time.

When this happened, many field hockey fans offered their support to the young Russian.

So even in times of war, field hockey can bring people together, and that’s the beauty of it.

Highlights

– Scherzer is phenomenal.

– Erik Karlsson’s career in numbers.

– What would your list be?

– Read more.

– Incredible.