| Jared Bednar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Bednar at a media interview during the2016 Calder Cup Finals | |||
| Born | (1972-02-28)February 28, 1972 (age 53) Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | ||
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | St. John's Maple Leafs Rochester Americans Grand Rapids Griffins | ||
| CurrentNHL coach | Colorado Avalanche | ||
| Playing career | 1993–2002 | ||
| Coaching career | 2002–present | ||
Jared Garry Bednar (born February 28, 1972) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who is thehead coach for theColorado Avalanche of theNational Hockey League (NHL). He previously coached theLake Erie Monsters of theAmerican Hockey League, leading them to aCalder Cup championship in2015–16. He also led theSouth Carolina Stingrays of theECHL to aKelly Cup championship in the2008–09 season. Bednar won theStanley Cup with Colorado in2022, becoming the first coach to win the current ECHL, AHL, and NHL trophies (Kelly, Calder, and Stanley Cup respectively).[1]
Bednar playedjunior hockey with theWestern Hockey League'sSaskatoon Blades,Spokane Chiefs,Medicine Hat Tigers, andPrince Albert Raiders, from 1990 to 1993, playing in 152 games with 520 combined penalty minutes, establishing himself as a physical player. After going undrafted by theNHL, Bednar made his professional debut during the 1993–94 season, with theHuntington Blizzard of theEast Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He played three seasons with the team, posting a career high in points during the 1994–95 season, with 45 points in 64 games.
Bednar joined the ECHL'sSouth Carolina Stingrays halfway through the 1995–96 season, posting 24 points and 126 penalty minutes in his first 39 games. From 1995 to 1998, he played mostly with the Stingrays, with small stints in theAmerican Hockey League (AHL) with theSt. John's Maple Leafs andRochester Americans. He played the 1998–99 season with theGrand Rapids Griffins of theInternational Hockey League (IHL), racking up 21 points and 220 PIMS in 71 games with the Griffins. Bednar re-joined the Stingrays for the 1999–2000 season and played two more seasons with the Rays. He announced his retirement after the 2001–02 season.
After retiring as a player, Bednar remained with the Stingrays as an assistant coach from 2002 to 2007. After head coachJason Fitzsimmons stepped down, Bednar was named his successor for the 2007–08 season. His first season as coach was extremely successful, with the Stingrays winning 47 games in the regular season, and making it to the American Conference finals in the playoffs. After another successful season in 2008–09, the Stingrays won theKelly Cup, giving Bednar his first championship as a coach in only his second season.
After winning the Cup, Bednar stepped down as head coach of the Stingrays to become assistant coach of theAbbotsford Heat of the AHL for the 2009–10 season. He was then the head coach of the AHL'sPeoria Rivermen from 2010 through 2012.
TheColumbus Blue Jackets hired Bednar as an assistant coach for their minor league AHL affiliate, theSpringfield Falcons, beginning with the 2012–13 season. After serving in this role for two seasons, he was promoted to head coach following the promotion ofBrad Larsen to Columbus' staff. For the2015–16 season, Columbus shifted their AHL affiliation to theLake Erie Monsters in Cleveland. Bednar followed the affiliation to Cleveland and continued as head coach. Lake Erie went 15–2 in the2016 Calder Cup playoffs to capture the franchise's first championship and the first for the city of Cleveland since the original Cleveland Barons won the 1964 Calder Cup.[2] He was later rewarded by the Blue Jackets with a two-year contract extension through to the 2018–19 season on July 19, 2016.[3]
On August 25, 2016, Bednar was named head coach of theColorado Avalanche of theNational Hockey League (NHL), replacingPatrick Roy.[4][5] This was an unusually late hire for an NHL head coach. However, Roy had resigned less than a month before training camp, leaving Bednar with little time to get to know his new players. He also had no time to implement his own system or hire his own staff; he was forced to retain Roy's assistants.[6][7] Despite having talented players, such asNathan MacKinnon,Gabriel Landeskog andMatt Duchene on the roster, the team never recovered from a 4–21–1 December and January and slumped to only 48 points, the worst record in the league and the worst since theQuebec Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995. It was also one of the worst records for a non-expansion team since 1967, and the worst since the team moved fromQuebec City in 1995.
Bednar didn't take long to bring the Avalanche back to respectability. In his second season in Denver, Bednar guided the team to a 47-point improvement. The team faced some adversity early in the season with the distraction of Duchene's public trade request. Following the trade, Bednar guided the team to one of the hottest second half records, returning them to the playoffs for the first time in four years. After the Avalanche's first round exit in six games to theNashville Predators, Bednar was signed to a one-year contract extension on April 23, 2018.[8] A few days after signing a new contract, Bednar was nominated for theJack Adams Award.[9]
In Bednar's third season coaching the Avalanche, he led the team to back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time sinceJoel Quenneville in 2003–04 and 2005–06. The Avalanche defeated theCalgary Flames 4–1 in the Western Conference's first round, and then were defeated in the second round in seven games by theSan Jose Sharks. On July 9, 2019, Bednar signed a two-year contract extension.[10] In 2021–22, after earning a franchise-record 119 points, Bednar led the Avalanche to the third Stanley Cup in franchise history when his team defeated theTampa Bay Lightning, who were defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champions and had won 11 straight postseason series. Notably, they only lost four of their 20 playoff games (16–4).[11]
Mainly on the strength of the 2021–22 season, Bednar began the 2022–23 season with the most wins in the Colorado portion of Nordiques/Avalanche history. He won his 265th game with the Avalanche on January 21, 2023, with a 2–1 shootout win over theSeattle Kraken. This tiedMichel Bergeron for the most wins in Nordiques/Avalanche history.[12] He passed Bergeron in the next game, on January 24, with a 3–2 win over theWashington Capitals.[13] After the season, Bednar and the Avalanche agreed to a three-year contract extension that took effect at the end of the 2023–24 season.[7]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1990–91 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 28 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Spokane Chiefs | WHL | 62 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 200 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 1992–93 | Spokane Chiefs | WHL | 16 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Prince Albert Raiders | WHL | 37 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Huntington Blizzard | ECHL | 66 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 115 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Huntington Blizzard | ECHL | 64 | 9 | 36 | 45 | 211 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1995–96 | Huntington Blizzard | ECHL | 25 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 90 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | South Carolina Stingrays | ECHL | 39 | 2 | 22 | 24 | 126 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | ||
| 1996–97 | St. John's Maple Leafs | AHL | 55 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 151 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | South Carolina Stingrays | ECHL | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 28 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 59 | ||
| 1997–98 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 19 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | South Carolina Stingrays | ECHL | 36 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 126 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 17 | ||
| 1998–99 | Grand Rapids Griffins | IHL | 74 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 220 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | South Carolina Stingrays | ECHL | 61 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 214 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 25 | ||
| 1999–00 | Rochester Americans | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | South Carolina Stingrays | ECHL | 57 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 155 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 24 | ||
| 2001–02 | South Carolina Stingrays | ECHL | 71 | 5 | 23 | 28 | 145 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| ECHL totals | 434 | 61 | 130 | 191 | 1,210 | 46 | 2 | 15 | 15 | 157 | ||||
| IHL totals | 74 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 220 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| AHL totals | 74 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 200 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | OTL | Pts | Finish | W | L | Win% | Result | |||
| COL | 2016–17 | 82 | 22 | 56 | 4 | 48 | 7th inCentral | — | — | — | Missed playoffs | |
| COL | 2017–18 | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 95 | 4th in Central | 2 | 4 | .333 | Lost in first round (NSH) | |
| COL | 2018–19 | 82 | 38 | 30 | 14 | 90 | 5th in Central | 7 | 5 | .583 | Lost in second round (SJS) | |
| COL | 2019–20 | 70* | 42 | 20 | 8 | 92 | 2nd in Central | 9 | 6 | .600 | Lost in second round (DAL) | |
| COL | 2020–21 | 56 | 39 | 13 | 4 | 82 | 1st inWest | 6 | 4 | .600 | Lost in second round (VGK) | |
| COL | 2021–22 | 82 | 56 | 19 | 7 | 119 | 1st in Central | 16 | 4 | .800 | WonStanley Cup (TBL) | |
| COL | 2022–23 | 82 | 51 | 24 | 7 | 109 | 1st in Central | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost in first round (SEA) | |
| COL | 2023–24 | 82 | 50 | 25 | 7 | 107 | 3rd in Central | 6 | 5 | .545 | Lost in second round (DAL) | |
| COL | 2024–25 | 82 | 49 | 29 | 4 | 102 | 3rd in Central | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost in first round (DAL) | |
| Total | 700 | 390 | 246 | 64 | 52 | 36 | .591 | 8 playoff appearances 1 Stanley Cup title | ||||
| Preceded by | South Carolina Stingrays head coach 2007–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Springfield Falcons head coach 2014–15 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lake Erie Monsters head coach 2015–16 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Head coach of the Colorado Avalanche 2016–present | Incumbent |
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