The five best moments of 2023 for the Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks won the NHL Draft Lottery and drafted Connor Bedard No. 1 overall.

The tank paid off as the Hawks won the NHL Draft Lottery and the right to draft hockey phenom Connor Bedard. He has been everything as advertised.

The most important thing about drafting Bedard is it gives the Hawks a legitimate superstar to build the next great team around. Oh, and the Hawks had a pretty good 2023 draft too. They took Oliver Moore with their other first-round pick. He is a skilled speedster who could team up with Bedard down the road to form a tremendous scoring duo. Goalie Adam Gajan was taken in the second round, and he is having an outstanding World Juniors.

May 8, 2023 (the day the Hawks won the lottery) and June 23, 2023 (the day they officially drafted him) will go down as the two biggest dates in team history.

Connor's days of firsts

He did not disappoint in his NHL debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins and his hero Sidney Crosby. The game was hyped up by ESPN and it got the general masses intrigued to turn on a hockey game. That shows you the type of draw Bedard is. He is a generational talent that the NHL is hoping will grow the game.

He got his first point in that game with an assist in a 4-2 victory. A day later he scored his first NHL goal against the Boston Bruins.

It would also be a preview of the season where on most nights the team needs Bedard to score just to generate some offense.

Bedard's Michigan goal

Bedard provided one of the most amazing goals against the St. Louis Blues. It is a goal that even Wayne Gretzky said he could never do.

Call it a Michigan goal, call it a lacrosse goal, just call it amazing.

It is a goal that will forever be on his highlight reel. Hopefully, he keeps providing many more outstanding goals in 2024 and beyond.