I find Bedard's star power amazing. I can tell you that in Winnipeg, we generally don't get legit regular season sellouts except for the occasional weekend game vs. Brandon. However, the pair of games vs. Regina late last month were as full as I've ever seen it at Wayne Fleming Arena.
The funny thing is that the first game vs. Regina generated the viral Bedard goal off the opening faceoff, you could hear the audible gasp in the crowd as it happened, haha. But in the second game Bedard was not really noticeable. His line is OK but the Pats are simply not a very good team, he can only do so much. It's a bit like watching McDavid in his first couple years with the Oilers when they weren't a playoff team.
I'm surprised the fans in Van/Vic/PG were engaged enough to know Bedard was coming to town, and to then buy tickets for it. Usually when I watch games from those places, the seats are mostly empty, especially in Vic/PG.
I'm sure it must drive the owners of the Pats nuts, the Pats are a hot ticket everywhere they go except in Regina it seems. I went to see the ICE vs. Pats in Regina back in October and there was no hype or interest in the game locally, the arena was maybe half full.