Connor Bedard of North Vancouver, British Columbia made hockey history on Tuesday by becoming the youngest Canadian player to score four goals in a single game at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Men’s Hockey Championship. Bedard accomplished the feat in a 11-2 Canada win over Austria in Edmonton, Alberta at the age of 16. Bedard also tied the record for the most goals in one game for Team Canada at the World Junior Men’s Hockey Championship.
Bedard, who plays with the Regina Pats, was one of nine Canadians to have a multi-point game. The others were Peterborough Petes center Mason McTavish of Carp, Ontario (two goals and one assist for three points), Manitoba Moose center Cole Perfetti of Whitby, Ontario (one goal and two assists for three points), Halifax Mooseheads center Elliot Desnoyers of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec (three assists), Shawinigan Cataractes center Mavrik Bourque of Plessisville, Quebec (one goal and one assist for two points), Everett Silvertips defenseman Ronan Seeley of Olds, Alberta (two assists), University of Michigan Wolverines defenseman Owen Power of Mississauga, Ontario (two assists), Edmonton Oil Kings right winger Dylan Guenther of Edmonton, Alberta (two assists), and Windsor Spitfires left winger Will Cuylle of Toronto, Ontario (two assists). The other three Canadian goal scorers were Charlottetown Islanders defenseman Lukas Cormier of Sainte-Marie-de-Kent, New Brunswick, Kamloops Blazers center Logan Stankoven of Kamloops, British Columbia, and Wolverines center Kent Johnson of Port Moody, British Columbia.
Bedard also becomes the sixth player on Team Canada to score four goals in a game at the World Junior Hockey Championship. The other five are Mario Lemieux of Montreal, Quebec in a 13-0 Canada win over Norway on January 4, 1983, Simon Gagne of Sainte-Foy, Quebec in a 12-2 Canada win over Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals of the 1999 World Men’s Junior Hockey Championship in Winnipeg on January 2, 1999, Brayden Schenn of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in a 10-1 Canada win over Norway on December 29, 2010, Taylor Raddish of Caledon, Ontario in a 10-2 Canada win over Latvia on December 29, 2016 in Toronto, and Max Comtois of Longueuil, Quebec in a 14-0 Canada win over Denmark on December 26, 2018 in Vancouver.
With the win, Canada improves to a record of two wins and zero losses. However, the biggest story of the tournament so far is the fact that two games have been cancelled because of coronavirus. The United States lost 1-0 to Switzerland because of two positive cases among American players on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, Finland beat the Czech Republic 1-0 because of a positive test on Team Czech Republic.
