Connor Bedard’s latest hat trick ties a feat not seen since the 1940s

In case you missed it, Connor Bedard, along with fellow first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, both scored hat tricks on the same night. Bedard and Celebrini, in their age-20 and age-19 seasons, respectively, are the first pair of players aged 20 or younger to score three goals on the same evening since Jack Hamilton and Bud Poile accomplished the feat almost 82 years ago on Feb. 19, 1944.

Hamilton had a short career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, playing in just 102 games over three seasons and ending with 60 points and 28 goals. Poile made it into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, but played in 311 career games (58 with the Black Hawks), and put up 229 points and 107 goals.

As for Bedard and Celebrini, expect more from them than just a combined 413 games, and 135 goals. Once again, they accomplished something special, and once again, it's another surefire indication that this pair of generational talents is more than living up to their billing. Best yet, both players scored their hat tricks while wearing an "A," meaning they set their latest milestones as alternate captains for their respective teams.

Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini have been putting on a show this season

Words can't express the kind of show Bedard and Celebrini have put on through the first quarter of the 2025-26 season. Bedard, who had a rough time proving he was the generational talent the Blackhawks thought they were getting in 2023-24 and 2024-25, is fourth in the NHL in points with 29, and is in a seven-way tie for second with 13 goals, along with Celebrini.

While fans might have expected Bedard to improve from his solid but unspectacular first two seasons with the Blackhawks, nobody saw 29 points and 13 goals after 19 games. Yes, the Blackhawks are a better team, but Bedard's numbers over his first two seasons indicated he would likely gravitate more toward the point-per-game mark and wouldn't start taking over the league until 2026-27.

Bedard looks like he will get some Hart Trophy votes this season if he keeps up his current pace, as he's on track to end the year with 56 goals and 125-126 points. Celebrini will challenge him if his 30 points and 13 goals keep going at the same dynamic trajectory. Celebrini could easily end the year with 123 points and between 53 and 54 goals, so the race between these two faces of the next generation is more than on. 

Connor Bedard has changed the entire narrative over the first quarter of 2025-26

Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, Bedard scored 45 goals and 128 points through 150 games, with an 11.2 shooting percentage and a staggering minus-80 rating. This season, he's sitting with a plus-10 and a 20.0 shooting percentage. Now that the first quarter of the season is up, everything about Bedard and the Blackhawks has changed. 

The Blackhawks are fourth in the Central thanks to losing out in a tiebreaker to the Winnipeg Jets with one less regulation win. Other than that, the Hawks look like they may be legitimate playoff contenders. They can thank Bedard, his heroics, and the way he (with an assist from Celebrini) is setting milestones that haven't been seen since the middle of the previous century. 

Both Bedard's and the Blackhawks' performances show us what this team is capable of, and that they can be legitimate contenders going forward, barring an unforeseen rash of injuries. With 75 percent of the season to go, Bedard may not be finished pulling off feats that make NHL historians open their history books and say, "Wow, this has only been done once since the 1940s (or earlier)."