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Jared Bednar is the Avalanche.
And suddenly this organization needs him as much as he has needed them.
Two years is not a long time. But the Stanley Cup parade feels like forever ago. No longer are the Avs entering the season, which starts Wednesday night, as the favorite to win a championship. That honor belongs to the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars. Colorado is a team seeking to maintain a standard of excellence while going through an awkward transition forced by injury (Gabe Landeskog) and absence (Val Nichushkin).
There was a time when the Avs could not escape the second round of the playoffs, and Bednar was advanced as the reason why. He dispelled that notion with the 2021-22 title run, delivering a 16-4 postseason record.
But the days of the Avs running on fiber optics against dialup opponents are over. They led the league in goals per game last season, something they are unlikely to repeat with Landeskog (uncertain) and Nichushkin (possibly mid-November) unavailable. They ranked 16th in goals against.
That number remains more salient than ever, tracing back to the man on the bench. Bednar has guided the Avs to seven consecutive playoff berths and averaged 52 wins over the past three seasons. Some believe an auto-pilot coach could produce these results. I respectfully disagree, and this represents a season for Bednar to drive this point home.
As a roughneck minor league player, Bednar answered to the nickname “Bedrock.” His plus-minus was horrifying, but revealing. He was the guy who had everyone’s back and never shied away from dropping the gloves.
He wants to succeed as much as the next coach, and this season he will have to convince the players to buy into his long point of emphasis: defense.
He has created a strong culture, one that will be tested with the meshing of as many as five young players on the opening roster. It needs to manifest itself in the first few months through goal prevention, not Disney on Ice skating.
“It is obviously demanding, his style of play. He takes a lot of pride in the defensive game, which is exactly what we have to think about. We have to be pushing toward being really good defensively,” right winger Mikko Rantanen said. “What I have noticed the last couple of years, it’s been more demanding on that side, which is really good because in the playoffs you need to be rock solid defensively to have success.”
The Avs lost their way at the end of last season, their breakdowns staggering as they were stunning. Throw in the suspension of Nichushkin before the puck dropped in Game 4 against the Dallas Stars last May, and any chance of regaining their traction disappeared.
The Avs can sit around and cross their fingers until their knuckles are white, hoping everything works out with Landeskog and Nichushkin. Or Bednar can move forward like it will not. This team must operate under the worst-case scenario to avoid another early postseason exit.
Of course, that means finding more secondary scoring outside of reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Rantanen.
But this group requires consistent defense to ease the pressure on Alexander Georgiev, a solid goalie, whose slumps call for gulping Tums.
“It absolutely must be that way to start the year. With those injuries and guys we are missing, it’s going to be critical that we play in the structure of our system and be detail-oriented. Obviously, we generally do that, but we could get away with not doing it before,” right winger Logan O’Connor said. “There’s more emphasis on it. (Bednar) lays out the template for us with video and the numbers to see where we stand. He does a good job of using the analytics and meshing it with the message on what we need to do.”
No conversation about Bednar’s coaching occurs without the word “accountability” surfacing. Bednar cites the word in his press conferences. And players insist it is not hollow. They say he is fair in conversations, but hard on them. It remains tricky when leading an accomplished team, knowing when to hit the gas and when to throttle back. Too much of either creates static that morphs into background noise.
“Bedsy is a person who understands how I play and how I want to play. I think he does a really good job of holding guys accountable,” center Casey Mittelstadt said. “But he is also understanding of what it means to be a hockey player and the pressure that is on us. I think he does a really good job of balancing that. And that is a very tough thing to do.”
This season offers an opportunity for Bednar. Will he take charge of this transitioning roster, creating another layer to the club’s identity? Or will it be the other way around? The Avs have issues that are beyond their control with Landeskog and Nichushkin. But no one cares.
Once you have engraved names on Lord Stanley’s Cup, and the core remains in place, that is what everyone seeks. It is the foundation of everything the Avs do, and Bednar, perhaps more than ever, must be this team’s Bedrock.
“Obviously our goals remain the same. We expect to win. We make no secrets about it,” Bednar said. “The things that change are how we expect to get there.”
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