There’s certainly a lot of excitement surrounding the home opener, which comes after the Blackhawks (2-3-0) began the season with a five-game road trip. That includes Bédard, who said this month that in addition to his league debut, he was most looking forward to Saturday’s game.
“The home opener will be unreal,” said Bédard, who has three points (goal, two assists) in five games. “The preseason games were crazy in there and you’re not even allowed to sell out the upper bowl and everything, and it was crazy. I’m really looking forward to that, a full United Center. It will be special.
Troy Murray, who has worked on Chicago radio broadcasts since 2006-07, agreed that Bedard’s regular-season home debut will be a lot like Kane’s in 2007. He said the level of excitement for the game on Saturday is “out of the ordinary”. Ticket sales for the home opener proved it.
“Last year I think it was almost a sellout, but it’s a high demand sellout. I think the anticipation and excitement is huge and it speaks to a new generation of fans as well as those who have been here since the days when Kane and Toews were here. So this is the start of a new era, and I think the fans are excited to see what Bédard can bring.
“Again, there’s a lot of pressure on a guy who just turned 18. At the same time, he handled the situation extremely well and I think the fans going to the United Center will really have a high level of anticipation. The energy in the building will be something that, for people attending the Blackhawks’ opening game in this new stage, will be out of this world.
Darren Pang returned to Chicago as a Blackhawks announcer in June after beginning his broadcasting career here in the 1990s. For him, Bédard’s home debut is reminiscent of another special night he helped broadcast .
“I had the opportunity to do Mario Lemieux’s return to Pittsburgh when he came back after a few years away,” Pang said of the Hall of Famer coming out of retirement for the Penguins of Pittsburgh against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Mellon Arena in December. 27, 2000.
“Going back to that first game at ‘The Igloo,’ when it happened, everywhere you turned, everywhere you walked, someone was talking about it. You could smell it in the air. Yes, it’s Mario returning after an absence (3 and a half years) from the game, but still, it’s as close as you can get to a match like this tomorrow, in terms of personal broadcasting.
Bédard will certainly have the crowd by his side on Saturday. He and the Blackhawks will have something else for the first time this regular season: the final change.
“It’s a very important part of the game,” Pang said. “Even a team as deep as Vegas, it will at least give (Chicago coach Luke Richardson) some options, whether it’s in the offensive zone, on the last shift, so he can put (Bedard) in a perhaps a more favorable position.
“He won’t get much of a break here because he’ll have to (face) Jack Eichel right away. And if not, he’ll have other great control players as well, but I still believe the latest change will give Luke options that will be beneficial.
Bédard comes home. Blackhawks fans have had to wait nearly two weeks since the start of the season for this game, and the anticipation has built accordingly.
“I think for a lot of people it will probably be a little cathartic,” Punk said. “It’s a new start in many ways, obviously with Bédard. He is like a beacon of hope.
“It feels like there’s something new at every level, behind the scenes, on the ice, in the booth. There is enthusiasm and it gives rise to a lot of hope. I think the fans will leave Saturday knowing that it’s the beginning and we’ve been here before, it’s a rebuild, we can build around this exciting, dynamic new generational talent, but it’s going to take time. They need our support more than anything.
