Colorado Avalanche: Roy Coached Better than Bednar

Argument Against Judging Jared Bednar

I already know what the counterarguments are going to be because I’ve been having this argument for almost a year now.

One, Bednar was hired late in the offseason. He didn’t have enough time to prepare for the season.

Two, Bednar was handed a bad roster, not of his making.

Three, Bednar was a rookie coach. We only have one season’s worth of a sample size.

Four, Bednar had so much success in the ECHL and AHL. We owe him a chance to make that leap into NHL success.

Did I miss anything? If so, please leave it in the comments box below. However, I’m going to address these points right away.

One, the Colorado Avalanche hired Jared Bednar four weeks before the preseason. Yes, most other coaches have the entire offseason to prepare. However, Bednar had coaching experience at the lower levels — 14 years’ worth. A good candidate for a position should be able to step into said position under any circumstances.

Was getting his first NHL head coaching gig four weeks before preseason ideal for Jared Bednar? Probably not. Did he have enough time to prepare? He should have. His entire coaching career should have been preparation for the dream gig of NHL head coach. Otherwise, why did he interview for and take the job if he didn’t feel ready to step into that role?

Two, Bednar had no hand in making his roster. Patrick Roy enjoyed unheralded power in having say in roster personnel decisions. “Unheralded” means “most other guys don’t get this.” Most NHL coaches — hell, most professional hockey coaches — get handed a roster not of their making.

Was last year’s roster bad? Well, I’m not going to say it was good. However, even in the face of the worst team in franchise history — a Quebec Nordiques team that won only 12 games — the scant few players played well. That didn’t happen last season (more on that below), and that’s at least partially because of coaching.

Three, our sample size is small. Bednar has had only one season of coaching, and under those unideal circumstances named above. I’ll go into greater detail below, but as of right now, Jared Bednar’s NHL coaching record is 22-56-4. Those are numbers. They don’t lie. That’s a 26.8% winning percentage. That’s it. It’s black and white.

Four, Bednar had such great success at lower levels we owe it to him to give him a proper chance. He got hired as an NHL head coach. He got paid as an NHL head coach. He coached. There was his chance, and at what I presume was his dream job.

AHL and ECHL success may help predict how you do in the NHL, but it’s no guarantee. The NHL game is so much faster, and you’re dealing with elite players. The stakes are also higher.

The NHL is the “big league” of hockey. It is the epitome of the sport. No one is owed even one shot at doing something in the big leagues. Certainly no one is owed a “proper” shot at the bigs.

All the success in the lower leagues means nothing to your success in the big leagues. As baseball star Josh Beckett put it, “If I don’t make it to the big leagues, nobody’s going to remember I threw a no-hitter in Double-A.”

As Eminem famously pointed out, “You got one shot, one opportunity.”

One, if that. And Jared Bednar blew his. The above counterarguments are excuses, and excuses also don’t make it in the bigs.

But this post isn’t about how Jared Bednar failed. So let’s move on to how Patrick Roy was a better coach than Bednar.