Mile High Sticking
Fansided

Jared Bednar becomes winningest coach in Colorado Avalanche history

By Graham Tiedtke

Jan 24, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Family members of Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar (not pictured) hold congratulations signs during the third period against the Washington Capitals at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 24, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Family members of Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar (not pictured) hold congratulations signs during the third period against the Washington Capitals at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Colorado Avalanche won Tuesday night’s game against their former goaltender Darcy Kuemper the Washington Capitals by a score of 3-2. Several milestones were hit in the victory. Nathan MacKinnon reached 700 career points during the game but following the game, another milestone was realized. Head coach Jared Bednar has now become the team’s most winningest coach.

Tuesday’s win was Bednar’s 266th regular season victory. Coming during a difficult year isn’t the most exciting way to celebrate the milestone but it is something that Bednar can look back at and be proud of.

The Avalanche have had their struggles this year. There have been times in which it felt as if they were not going to even make the playoffs, but after six-straight wins, could they be getting back on track? They now sit at third in the Western Conference Central Division with 26 wins and 55 points, which is still a little bit behind the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets.

Bednar took over the Avalanche following the firing of Patrick Roy who went 39-39-4 in his final season as the team’s head coach. Bednar has taken the team to the postseason in each of the last five years, winning the cup this past year. His team has finished first in the division each of the last two years.

Reading Bednar’s response to the topic of the milestone, I’m not too surprised.

At the end of the day, Jared Bednar just wants to lead the team into winning again and it looks like, at least for right now, that they are on track to being dominant again. Unfortunately, injuries have played a huge role in their struggles but even with their star players healthy, they had seemed very tired.

The team is now in a pretty decent position to make it into the playoffs and try to put the “struggles” talk to rest. It’s amazing that they are in this position given that they have gone many games without the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Valeri Nichushkin, Cale Makar and Gabriel Landeskog (who has not played at all  this season).

Home/Avalanche News