The Avalanche are a quieter team, and that’s fine by coach Bednar

Communication is key, as the cliche drones on. You’ve likely heard this in every workplace or classroom you’ve ever stepped foot in, and from every boss you’ve ever had, who will tell you this as company gospel. There is probably some awful poster with a derivation of the phrase somewhere in your boss’s office, as he/she sequesters away from you and the world.

Like every job, the game of hockey is no different, in that it requires effective communication in order to successfully get the job done. Hockey, however, requires maybe a different kind of communication than what is demanded at your average 9-to-5 desk grind. In addition to all of the vulgarities and shit-talking, for lack of a better term, that occurs in any sort of hyper-competitive environment like that, players on the ice really do have their own sort of secret language we don’t often get to hear.

Given the usual crowd noise, fans and media do miss out on most of that explicit, R-rated “hockey talk” and on-ice chatter…aside from the occasional “wheel, wheel, wheel!” the microphones sometimes catch. And we were probably all a little bummed out to hear the broadcasts in the bubble would be on a seven-second delay so as to keep things PG. But for our guy Adrian Dater — who is one of only three U.S. reporters covering this thing live in Edmonton — he gets the very unique opportunity of hearing all the little uncensored, gory details of the game that reporters and fans will never hear. He gets to hear everything. 

This is something AD pointed out, and it’s something he felt was a key difference in the Avs loss to the Golden Knights last week. That is to say, Vegas was more vocal, while the Avalanche lacked the communicative chatter that’s conducive to success, as those office posters will tell you.

Colorado’s quieter approach was something head coach Jared Bednar was asked about after practice on Tuesday, and it’s something he wasn’t afraid to address. 

“With our group, it’s something we talk about a lot is being more communicative,” Bednar said of his group, before adding he thinks they’ve steadily improved in that regard over the past couple seasons. “I’d say we’ve done a decent job of that. It’s a little easier to hear and communicate on the ice with less noise in the building for sure.”

Bednar himself is a quieter, reserved, stoic kind of guy. It’s rare you see a Bednar blow-up or an exhibition of animated frustration you might see from a John Tortorella or a Bruce Boudreau or some other high-strung coach. Bednar exudes a “speak softly and carry a big stick” kind of energy about him. It appears, at least in some capacity, that some of that has rubbed off on his players. But really, at the end of the day, the Avs’ quieter demeanor is a byproduct of their combined personalities.

“As far as ‘the juice’ and energy on the bench, it doesn’t matter who you are. You got to be yourself. I’m not trying to be a different coach, I’m not trying to be someone else, I’m just trying to be the best coach I can be and be myself,” Bednar said. “If you’re authentic, you chip in when you have something to say and you’re quiet at other times, that’s just fine by me.”

Personnel really does dictate the raucousness and energy of a team. In the case of Vegas, you have plenty of players that like the sound of their own voices: Ryan Reaves, Mark Stone, Nate Schmidt, to a lesser degree Marc-Andre Fleury…the list goes on. That’s the identity of a team that once self-branded itself as “Misfits.” And that’s fine. The Avalanche have their own identity.

“I don’t think you have to manufacture something that isn’t natural to you. I think there are times and places where we need guys to step up and say things, and they do,” Bednar said. “…As far as stepping out of your comfort zone, hey, if you’ve got something to say, say it. Everyone will listen. We’re a family-like atmosphere with our team.”

As for the Avalanche, well, Nikita Zadorov is probably the team’s bonafide chatterbox. Other than that, the Avs lack verbosity and bombast, and, hey, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s not an entirely necessary part of the game and the Avs are doing just fine without it, thank you very much. At least that’s Bednar’s view on it. While it doesn’t always manifest itself on the bench, there’s one place in the arena where communication is absolutely key according to Bednar.  

“Where I would like us to make sure we’re communicating is when we’re playing on the ice, the guys actually on the ice, the five guys,” he added. “…As long as we’re doing enough to make us successful, I’m happy. Do I think we can do it more? Sure.” 

Communication is key, no one’s disputing that. But communication comes in different forms. For Bednar and the boys, they prefer to let their actions do the talking.