Jared Bednar: ‘We can get it done’

On Monday afternoon, a day after the Avalanche saw an early 1-0 lead sink into 5-1 oblivion, Avs head coach Jared Bednar met with the media and said he was still in the process of dissecting the film from Game 4. After all, right now, there is a lot to break down as the head coach of the Avalanche.

How, all of the sudden, does the team look like their two tiers below the Vegas Golden Knights?

Why do the Avalanche seem to shrink away from the moment on the NHL’s biggest stage each season?

What is going wrong?

Thing is, I’m not sure anyone has the answers to any of these questions. That’s obviously frustrating to you, the fan. But I can tell you it’s certainly even more frustrating for the guy coaching the team.

There is, no doubt, a lot on the mind of Jared Bednar. A second-round exit—for the third straight year—with the most successful, complete roster Colorado’s seen in two decades would be a magnificent failure. There’s no other way to put it.

Is the Avs’ fifth-year coach starting to feel his seat warm? No, that’s probably the last thing he’s thinking about—sorry Avs Twitter. There are more pressing matters to handle in the immediate future. Even if the worst were to happen, and the Avalanche bow out in Round 2 again, it likely wouldn’t result in job loss for Jared Bednar, who has one season remaining on his two-year extension he signed in July of ‘19.

But, at the same time, there’s no doubt he’s in his head a little bit. Same goes for everyone else in the Avalanche locker room.

“It’s a mental grind. You have to face the adversity head-on; you have to be confident in what you do and there has to be trust in your group,” Jared Bednar said Monday afternoon.

“Right now we’re just a little bit out of sync.”

The Golden Knights continue jousting the Avalanche off the high-horse that they came trotting into the series on, and Colorado simply doesn’t have an answer for Vegas right now.

It seems the Golden Knights have that extra gear that is a requisite of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Avalanche seem to be stuck in second gear, in the second round, for the third straight year.