The Colorado Avalanche were the worst team in the NHL in Jared Bednar’s first season as head coach five years ago. Finishing with just 48 points, the Avalanche had 21 fewer points than any other team in the league.
Some coaches join teams needing an extra push to get to the next level. When Bednar moved to Colorado, the Avs were comatose and in need of resuscitation.
It was not that the team lacked talent. Gabriel Landeskog joined the Avalanche in 2011. Nathan MacKinnon was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 draft. Matt Duchene, when Bednar became coach, was coming off an All-Star season after having won the Olympic gold medal as part of the Canadian national team two years prior. However, despite such talent, the Avs were in disarray.
Bednar was hired shortly before the 2016-17 season after Patrick Roy abruptly stepped down as head coach. This did not leave Bednar with enough time to turn things around for his inaugural year. But by the second half of the 2017-18 season, the Avs were beginning to show progress. After a three-year absence, Colorado made it to the playoffs. The Avs lost in the first round, but the team was improving under Bednar.
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The Avs made it the second round in each of the next three postseasons, although there were disappointments. In the 2019-20 season, the Avs were knocked out of the playoffs thanks to an overtime loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 7. In 2020-21, after posting the best record in the league, the Avs lost to the Las Vegas Golden Knights, dropping four games in a row after initially leading the series 2-0. Frustration boiled over.
“Sure, there’s always next year. That’s all we talk about I feel like. I mean, I’m going into my ninth year next year and I haven’t won (crap),” MacKinnon lamented.
It wouldn’t be much longer.
The Avalanche had the most points in the Western Conference this past season. They cruised through the playoffs, only losing two games on their path to the Stanley Cup Finals. Nonetheless, given their postseason tribulations in recent years and their opponent being the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, there was reason to be skeptical that Colorado would be able to clear the final hurdle. Making it to the Finals moved the Avalanche yet another step closer. Perhaps next year would be the year that they would finally take the Cup.
But winning the West this season was not enough for the Avs. Last week, they reached the top, winning the Stanley Cup after a steady climb that had begun with hiring Bednar five years ago.
Game 6, in which the Avalanche clinched the series, was not without drama. When the blade of Landeskog’s skate was knocked off as a result of blocking a shot in the final minutes of the game, unable to skate, he was dragged by MacKinnon before crawling his way to the bench. With Colorado up by one and the Lightning pressing after having pulled the goaltender, a final push threatened to send the game into overtime. But the Avs held off the Lightning onslaught, winning the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2001.
I am typically somewhat skeptical of the extent to which coaching matters in professional sports. Coaches surely can have an impact, but ultimately it’s up to the players to perform.
In regard to Colorado, though, it is hard not to give credit to Bednar. He started with the team at the bottom of the league and presided over a steady progression to the Cup. The Avs added talent over the years, which certainly helped. Most notably, Colorado drafted Cale Makar in 2017, this year’s Norris Trophy winner as best defenseman and Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player in the postseason. Nonetheless, Bednar coached a team with the same leadership core of Landeskog and MacKinnon from last place to winning the Cup.
Bednar has had success, furthermore, in several settings. In winning the Stanley Cup, he became the only head coach to have won ECHL, AHL and NHL championships. His history shows that his success is not due to unique circumstances in Colorado.
Bednar and the Avs will now face perhaps their greatest challenge yet — staying on top. But thinking about next season can wait. For now, at least for a while, the Avalanche can take satisfaction in having started from the bottom and finally reaching the pinnacle of Rocky Mountain heights.
Dr. David Dreyer is a political science professor (and avid sports fan) at Lenoir-Rhyne University.