The Colorado Avalanche have certainly met expectations this season. They are in first place in the Central Division, as well as the entire NHL. It is the ninth consecutive season in which he has led his team to the postseason. He missed the postseason in his first season on the job, when the Avalanche were a hot mess. Just two weeks from today will be the regular season finale.
Colorado still has something to play for, though. They have a chance to lock up the number one seed in the Western Conference. As far as the Jack Adams award goes, there might still be some debate about whether or not it should go to Bednar. In fact, on some websites don’t even have Bednar as a candidate, including this recent article from Daily Faceoff.
The fact that he has gotten the Avalanche to the spot they are in right now is remarkable. You have to give credit to the team’s goaltending, primarily Scott Wedgewood. Hardly anybody expected this sort of season from him, especially the fact that he has been outplaying Mackenzie Blackwood. However, as of late, Bednar seems to be favouring Wedgewood.
However, this last stretch of the season could determine whether or not Bednar is truly in contention for the award.
Avalanche’s performance vs Canucks may doom Jared Bednar
On Wednesday evening against the Vancouver Canucks, the Avs failed to make a full comeback, losing 8-6. The early goings of the game resulted in Mackenzie Blackwood getting yanked for Scott Wedgewood, who fared much better than the team’s “starter”. Blackwood allowed some soft goals, and though the team was very poor defensively, they needed a better performance from him. Bednar was extremely upset, as you could imagine.
The head coach is supposed to prepare his team for anything that is in their way. There was no way the Avs should have lost in the manner they did against the Canucks. That might be a reason why Bednar gets overlooked going forward.
Though the Avs were missing Cale Makar, who suffered an upper-body injury the other day against the Calgary Flames, the expectations for the depth players was crucial. There have been way too many turnovers lately, and that’s not the style of hockey the Avalanche are known for. They had to be better, especially against the two bottom feeders in the Pacific Division.
Colorado’s last stretch includes two games each against the Kraken and Blues, as well as one game each against the Stars, Golden Knights and Oilers. We could re-enter the Jack Adams award discussion for Bednar if things go mostly as planned in this final stretch, but I feel as if some of the (very) poor performances along the way have tarnished his spot for the award.