Gary Bettman And NHL Embarrassed By Connor Bedard After Winter Classic Ratings Hit All Time Low

Connor Bedard's NHL debut was one of the most anticipated in NHL history. In fact, over 1.4 million viewers tuned in to watch him play his first game against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Bedard's debut had been the most watched game of the season but many believed that that would change when the Winter Classic came around. After all, the Winter Classic is traditionally the highest-rated regular season game for the NHL. This year, that was not the case.

The game reached just 1.1 million viewers, over 300 thousand fewer than had tuned in to watch Connor Bedard make his debut. This is unprecedented in the NHL. Not only was it the smallest TV crowd of any Winter Classic in NHL history, but it will also be the first time in NHL history that it was not the most watched game of the year.

The viewership was surpassed, of course, by the aforementioned debut of Connor Bedard. The rookie sensation not only lead his team to victory that night, but he also recorded his first career NHL point with an assist and retroactively embarrassed the league by drawing more viewership than the league's annual top event.

At this point, Bedard is already achieving a level of legendary status. Hopefully his presence in the league will draw more interest to the sport overtime as more people become aware of his talent. At least the NHL seems to understand that Bedard is good for ratings as the team is reportedly set to play in next year's Winter Classic according to Elliotte Friedman.

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