“I think Jordan Weal was a better junior player than Connor Bedard”.

I think Jordan Weal was a better junior player than Connor Bedard

,” said Pat Conacher, a former junior coach with the Regina Pats. From the moment I saw the quote, I figured it was a good joke. After all, a visual-only publication is sometimes worth what it’s worth

💣 #JoinTheRegiment🎖 pic.twitter.com/7tEVVK7iVZ

– The Rod Pedersen Show (@RodPedersenShow) April 25, 2023

And there, poking around, you can pretty easily stumble across what the former Pats coach (2011-2013) has to say about what he thinks… and he really does: he thinks Weal was a better junior player than Bedard.

I wasn’t ready for that this morning

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– The Rod Pedersen Show (@RodPedersenShow) April 25, 2023

My problem with this is that he admits he hasn’t seen Connor Bedard play often. He saw him at the World Junior Championship, but didn’t really follow him frequently in the WHL. If you say something that big, you have to know what you’re talking about… and Conacher said, between the lines, that he was talking through his hat.

I kind of get where he’s coming from in the sense that he felt Weal could do anything on the ice. In 2011-2012, Weal’s last with the Pats, he scored 116 points, including 41 goals. That being said. If I give you a choice between Connor McDavid and Patrice Bergeron, you don’t have the right to tell me that Bergeron is a better player. You can tell me he’s more complete or better in the room, but you can’t, with all due respect to the Quebecer, tell me he’s better than McJesus. That would be a huge lie… and it’s the same thing, on a smaller scale, in the WHL with Bedard and Weal.I can’t even believe this is a debate.

Connor Bedard, for those who have forgotten, scored 71 goals this season in the WHL. And I’m not talking about those at the World Junior Championship (nine goals in seven games) and those in the playoffs (ten goals in seven games). I’m thinking maybe Weal was a playoff machine in 2012 to justify such talk… but no. In five games, he has just one goal and four assists, which isn’t on Bedard’s level.

Let’s also remember, for what it’s worth, that Weal was playing his age-19 year back in the day. Bedard did everything he did with a bad team, of course, but at 19,Bedard had a bad club too.We know that Weal didn’t translate his success in the NHL well as a third-round pick, and his former coach praised him as a good worker, an excellent man and all. I don’t doubt that. Having said that, you can’t say this:

I think Jordan Weal was a better junior player than Connor Bedard.

That’s not something that can be said simply on the basis of what he explained. Ofcourse, we’re going to make a little joke about Claude Julien, who always liked his Jordan Weal and never hesitated to make room for him on the power play.

I’ve got some advice for Jordan Weal: if he’s ever feeling down, all he has to do is call his old coach. I have a lot of respect for the guy, but he was never Bedard on the ice.

In gusto

– Good for the Bruins.

All indications are that captain Patrice Bergeron will be back in the Boston lineup on Thursday night!👀 pic.twitter.com/beowGkEflN

– RDS (@RDSca) April 25, 2023

– One to watch.

– Good question.

– Attention fans.