#web-weaving

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Lazerus: Are you guys roommates on the road by choice or by assignment?

Bedard: Assignment, I guess. Everyone on their (entry-level contract) has a roommate, so they threw us together.

Lazerus: But you don’t get to pick?

Bedard: No, no. But it’s been good.

Nazar: I think they just knew (laughs).

Lazerus: Has it worked out? I’m sure you have some annoying habits. Kane and Toews, not to go back to them, but they hated each other for years. Not real hate, but like an old married couple kind of hate. They drove each other crazy.

Bedard: We get up at the same time.

Nazar: Similar alarms.

Bedard: One alarm.

Lazerus: One alarm between the two of you? That’s big in a relationship.

Nazar: Yeah, a little scary.

Bedard: Yours is so loud, though. Legit. Wake up scared every morning. No, it’s good. I’m never really annoyed by you too much.

Lazerus: Are you guys respectful, wearing headphones when you’re watching stuff on your iPads?

Bedard: No, no, that’s the one rule.

Nazar: You’ve got to share.

Bedard: Share what you’re watching.

Nazar: If you see something funny, (mimes turning his phone in Bedard’s direction).

Bedard: That’s basically our communication (both laugh) after 9 o’clock.

Nazar: Once it’s time for bed, we usually don’t talk; we just send each other videos.

Lazerus: So you’re not watching movies, you’re watching TikToks, basically.

Bedard: Yeah. We always say we should watch a movie.

Nazar: Didn’t we watch a movie the other day?

Bedard: We watched “The Goon.”

Nazar: Oh, “The Goonies.”

Lazerus: “The Goonies” is great!

Bedard: Yeah, but we were on our phones the whole time. But no, we’ve been talking about watching movies. We watch sports.

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Lazerus: How weird is that, that people just talk about you like they actually know you? Or they talk about your careers, they make assessments of you and what you are as a player after two games. People like me are coming in and writing things. What is that sensation like, just being in the public eye like that?

Nazar: It’s definitely a little weird. I’m sure it’s probably normal for him, since he was like 12. To me, it’s definitely just weird. Growing up, you always have the highest goal to play in the NHL and be a good player in the NHL. Once you finally make it, you have all these people posting and saying things and making articles and doing stories about you. It’s pretty amazing to see how many people care and set time out of their day to read stuff like that. It’s just something you don’t really think of too much when you’re younger.

Lazerus: I always tell myself I’m not going to compare you guys to Kane and Toews, and I’ve already done it twice in this discussion because I can’t help myself. But people make that comparison. You guys are the tentpoles, the pillars of the franchise at an early age. You’re putting up a lot of points, you’re playing an exciting brand of hockey. Do you welcome a comparison like that? Or is it like, ‘Don’t put that on me”?

Bedard: I don’t care. When you’re a fan, it’s fun. At the end of the day, we’re entertainment, as well. As a kid, you’re always debating who’s better or what duo. I look at it from a fan’s perspective, and I think that’s just fun — stupid arguments over what player’s better. If it’s comparing us to the good old days, or —

Lazerus: You and (Macklin) Celebrini.

Bedard: Yeah, exactly. It’s great for the game, stuff like that. It just grows the game, people shredding each other about guys they never met or don’t know. At the end of the day, we’re getting paid a lot of money to play a game, and we want fans to enjoy it and that’s part of it. I think that stuff’s fun. I don’t care, I don’t look at it. But for them, it’s good.

Lazerus: So which one’s Kane and which one’s Toews? I don’t think we’ve figured that out yet.

Nazar: I think it’s more like Frank and Connor (both laugh).

Lazerus: That’s probably smart. And for those guys, it was always Stan (Mikita) and Bobby (Hull).

Bedard: Yeah, there’s always going to be something (to compare it to). Hopefully, one day, it’s us.