The NHL is gearing up for tomorrow's game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins, where Connor Bedard will make his highly-anticipated debut against his childhood idol Sidney Crosby.
To highlight the league's primetime season-opening matchup, Bedard joined "The Pat McAfee Show" on ESPN Monday to talk about his love for hockey and long-awaited debut.
"Right when I started, I was lucky to kind of find that passion," Bedard said. "I played a bit of soccer growing up and stuff, but nothing ever really clicked to me like hockey did."
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Greatness is rarely achieved without sacrifice, and a hockey player's ceiling is only as high as the number of hours spent on the ice.
That's not something you have to tell twice to Connor Bedard, whose work ethic has been heavily cited over the course of his young career.
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"The majority of my life is hockey or in the gym or whatever," Bedard said. "But if I'm getting away I like to maybe play some other sport or just kind of hang out with friends and family and stuff."
For those wondering, Bedard's extracurricular interests – which are few and far between – don't include video games. He's more into playing other sports, like golf and pickleball, in his free time.
"I'm like, okay – not that good," he said of his golf skills. "I don't really play enough to be very good, but it's a lot of fun. I think in the summer, basically every hockey player would tell you that they like to play golf sometimes."
At 18 years old, Bedard has a lifetime ahead to discover a passion outside of his job as a hockey player.
But until then, you can probably find him at the rink. After all, if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life, right?