Blackhawks' Connor Bedard Talks 1st NHL Faceoff vs. 'Childhood Hero' Sidney Crosby

Chicago Blackhawks rookie sensation Connor Bedard began his NHL career Tuesday with a special moment, taking the opening faceoff of his debut regular-season game against Pittsburgh Penguins legend Sidney Crosby.

Before referee Kelly Sutherland dropped the puck, he welcomed Crosby back for another season and welcomed Bedard to the NHL, which was a unique way of acknowledging one of the league's all-time greats and one of its future stars:

Per ESPN's Kristen Shilton, Bedard cracked a joke about losing the draw to Crosby before admitting how much the moment meant to him, saying: "[I was] just trying to win it, and I failed miserably. But it was pretty cool. He's a childhood hero of mine, like I've mentioned. It was a lot of fun."

Crosby, who is now 36 years of age, was the No. 1 overall pick way back in the 2005 NHL draft. He entered the league with a ton of hype surrounding him and has more than lived up to it.

In 1,191 career NHL regular-season games, Crosby has 551 goals and 952 assists for 1,503 points to his credit.

Crosby is also a three-time Stanley Cup champion, two-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner as league MVP, two-time Art Ross Trophy winner as the league's leading point scorer, two-time Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner as the league's top goal scorer and two-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP, cementing him as a future Hall of Famer.

Bedard has a long way to go before reaching those heights, but he started his career in successful fashion Tuesday.

In a game that saw Crosby score a goal to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead, Chicago scored four unanswered goals in the second and third periods to pull off the upset win.

Bedard finished with 21:29 of ice time, which was a team-high among forwards, he led the team with five shots on goal and had his first career assist on Chicago's opening goal by Ryan Donato.

If nothing else, Bedard showed that he belonged in the NHL at 18 years of age, and acquitted himself well against an iconic player in Crosby, who was drafted first overall just two weeks after Bedard was born.

Bedard won't have to wait long to build on his debut performance, as he and the Blackhawks will face the reigning Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins on the road Wednesday night.