One in 2330 ~ Connor Bedard Love Story

45. Surprises Revealed

I skated as fast as I could, rounding the first corner, making sure to not crash into the boards in front of me as I made my way down the side of the rink. I could feel the difference from practicing this with a warm-up before and not, as I definitely couldn't skate as fast as I would've liked to. 

I was going crazy fast though. For no warm-up and being 18 years old, I was beating the expectation. 13.407 seconds. McDavid would have a hard time beating that.

"Holy shit, Soph! That was incredible!" Q exclaimed as I made my way back to the bench.

"Sophie! How the fuck do you skate so fast!" Cale added, chuckling pulling me into his side and giving me a noogie. 

"Hey, get your hands off me," I laughed, swatting his hands away. "Thanks, man. You just messed up my hair."

"No, but seriously though. How the fuck did you manage to go so fast?" Petey asked.

"Dude, I've been telling you." I reminded them. "I've practiced a lot for this."

"Well, that was incredible, Soph. McDavid will have a hard time beating that time." Millsy said. 

"Hey, Connor," I called out as McDavid made his way to the start line, turning his head. "Good luck,"

"Thanks," he smiled before getting ready for his skate. 

Me and all of the All-Stars watched intently as we waited for McDavid's final time to clock in. Everyone in the arena wanted to know who would get those coveted five points for this event. 

The whistle blew and the arena fell silent. 

McDavid was flying around the rink, making me nervous about if my time would hold. McDavid rounded the second bend and I clasped Q's hand as my nerves built up, worrying about what McDavid's final time would be. McDavid skates across centre ice and that's where we all held our breath.

13.408.

No. Fucking. Way.

I just beat Connor McDavid in the first event of the Skills competition.

"Oh. My. God." I whispered, completely in shock. 

"Soph, you just beat Connor McDavid in the first event." Q said as I still sat on the bench, eyes wide, not moving. 

"Soph?" Cale asked, waving his hand in front of my face. "Earth to Sophie Amelia Tkachuk. You there?"

I finally snapped out of it, shaking my head, watching as I saw Connor McDavid make his way over to me, extending his hand.

"Hey, Sophie?" he says. "I just want to say congratulations. You are crazy fast."

"Thanks," I smiled, shaking his hand. "If I'm being honest, I've actually been training for this."

"Honestly, I can't blame you," McDavid chuckled. "Ever since they asked me to help them with the games, I've been training for the games too."

"Well, at least I'm not the only one. You wanna sit?" I asked, scooting over, motioning to the now available spot on my left. 

"Sure," he shrugged, sitting down. "So? What events are you in?"

"Well, besides the fastest skater event, I'm in the stick-handling, accuracy and one-timer event." I told him. "Speaking of, why can't I know who the passers are for the one-timer event?"

"It's a surprise," was all McDavid said before someone from the media crew came up to him for an interview.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, here with the second fastest skater in the world, and one of the greatest players. Connor, first off, tell me a little bit about Toronto and what this means to you to be at the NHL All-Star games in your hometown." P.K Suban asked.

"It means a lot to me. Um, you know, obviously this is my hometown, this building means a lot to me, growing up watching the Leafs here. Um, special to be here in front of friends and family. Great hockey town, um, just a great event and like I said, happy to be here in my hometown, you know." McDavid shrugged. 

"You come out here, and compete, always give the fans what they want, but this time, it might have been one of the biggest upsets in the hockey world." P.K said, alluding to something. It was only when he continued that I understood what he was getting at. "Connor, you had the best odds to win this first event, the fastest skater event, but just got beaten out by Sophie Tkachuk. What went on through your mind when you saw your time appear and see that it was one one-thousandths of a second behind her."

"Yeah, well, I highly respect Sophie as a player and as a person. I think she's an incredible hockey player and if I'm gonna be honest, I definitely think she's gonna be my biggest competition, and if I'm to be beaten by anyone, I'd want it to be her." McDavid said, making my eyes go wide. Did I seriously just hear that right? Connor McDavid would want me out of all of the players here to beat him if he doesn't win?! 

"As for what I was thinking when I saw my time, I was simply happy for her. I know we're all competitive out here, but I knew that Sophie's time would be incredibly hard to beat, as none of us had any warm-up before the game. When I saw that I was one one-thousandths of a second behind, I will admit that I wished I could've been a little faster, but overall, I am happy for Sophie, and I can't wait to see the player she'll become over her time in the NHL."

"Thank you, Connor, thank you. Connor McDavid, everybody."

At this point, the crew had set up for the next event, which was the one-timer event. I was really looking forward to this event. I'd been working on my one-timers recently as Coach wanted me to attempt more during games, so the practice was fresh in my mind. I was also excited for this event as I could finally find out who these guest passers would be for the event. Ever since Cale told me there would be guest passers that everyone knew about but I didn't, I've been dying to know ever since. 

"Playing in his sixth All-Star game, the Captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby!" the announcer declared. 

Not gonna lie, I kind of forgot about Sidney Crosby. Not the fact that he was a hockey player or an All-Star, but the fact that he was available for this. I guess that meant the second passer could also be one of the All-Stars that wasn't playing in the Skills competition today.

"And the number one draft pick of the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft, Connor Bedard!"

No. Fucking. Way.

~*~*~

A/n

And........ that's where I'm ending this chapter. I just figured that if I continued any more, this chapter would end up being around five thousand words, and that seems a little much.

If any of you guys have been following the Blackhawks on their Instagram page, you'll have seen the post about Connor Bedard at the media tour in Vegas, and damn. I don't know about you guys, but I so badly want to see Connor be named the Captain before this season starts, as he'll be the youngest Captain in NHL history! That would be insane!

One other thing that I'm doing that I'm not sure if you guys are doing yet is counting down the days until the new season starts. there's eleven days until the Sens play their first preseason game against the Leafs, Go Sens Go! And twenty-seven days until the official start of the season. I can't wait!

I hope you guys liked this chapter and the next chapter will finish up the All-Star Skills competition, then the one after that, assuming that I don't change my plans, will be about the All-Star game with Sophie playing for Team hughes.

-Skylor