You won’t find young hockey phenom Connor Bedard in a McDonald’s restaurant.
Bedard is the consensus projected first-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, and he’s proving to be very dedicated to his craft. The 17-year-old forward from North Vancouver, BC has put up ridiculous numbers at the junior level, including recording 61 goals and 64 points in 51 games with the WHL Regina Pats this season.
Bedard’s insanely strict diet was revealed in an interview ahead of the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft. Bedard’s mother, Melanie Bedard, spoke with NHL.com writer Mike G. Morreale about her son’s path to being potentially the next great hockey superstar.
Melanie surprisingly revealed to Morreale that Bedard has never eaten fast food before. Bedard’s diet is made up primarily of healthy meats and vegetables. Here’s what she said about Bedard’s strict diet:
“He’s never had fast food … he will at some point, but he hasn’t eaten at McDonald’s or anything yet,” Melanie said. “I think we all know when we eat well, how you feel, and then when we kind of go off the rails. I think he’s just aware of that feeling. On game days, he’ll eat chicken, rice, vegetable, shrimp, mashed yams, chicken, salmon. It’s kind of a rotation.
“A lot of times he’ll text me and I’ll laugh because I’ll get these texts while he’s at school that ask, ‘How about chicken tonight? How about quesadillas?’
Bedard’s strict diet is eerily similar to the diet of another Canadian hockey star. Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has cut out sugar and carbs as he follows a very strict meal plan. MacKinnon mainly eats healthy meats and veggies like Bedard, so we’re guessing diet jokes about these two will be flying soon. Whatever Nate is eating is clearly working, as the Avs’ superstar just captured his first Stanley Cup in 2022.
Bedard’s diet becoming public also correlates with recent news about Ottawa Senators’ defenseman Jakob Chychrun’s “ancestral” diet. In an interview with Arizona Coyotes beat writer Craig Morgan, Chychrun stated he doesn’t really eat carbs. “It’s like an ancestral way of living and I’m also eating raw liver, raw beef heart, doing all this crazy stuff.”
Hockey players are a different breed, and they clearly care deeply about what they put into their bodies. Based on how intense Bedard’s training sessions are, we can understand why the 17-year-old phenom doesn’t want to be fueling his workouts with unhealthy food. Bedard not eating any fast food at all might be on the extreme end, but you have to respect his dedication to his craft.
The 2023 NHL Draft is scheduled for June 28th in Nashville, where it would take a miracle for Bedard to not go first overall. It will be interesting to see if the young phenom sticks with his strict diet in the NHL, or whether he changes his eating habits and finally tries out that Big Mac at McDonald’s…
