Avalanche Locker Room: Furious Bednar Rips Into Team, Calls Effort In Third ‘A Joke’

Saturday night is the angriest I’ve ever seen Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar.

And he had every right to be.

Just minutes after his team was embarrassed on home ice in an 8-2 loss, he laid into his group, calling into question the one thing grown men never want questioned – their effort. The word “quit” was used multiple times, and he’s not wrong.

Cale Makar spoke after the game as well, and when I asked about the team defense (or lack of), he called questioned the “work” of the team.

Take a look at what Makar said, and read Bednar ripping into his squad after their loss to the Blues.

Cale Makar

Jared Bednar Shreds His Avalanche Squad

“Everything (is plaguing them). I mean, we’re getting outplayed. Goaltender is getting outplayed by their goaltender, forwards are getting outplayed by their forwards, D are getting outplayed by their D. Not for the whole game, but for big enough stretches that that’s why the score gets run up. Third period, it was a joke. That was the worst period of hockey I’ve ever seen from our club.

If I was breaking down that game, I’d go…first five minutes, six minutes, we get five or six Grade A scoring chances, Binnington makes a bunch of big saves, we hit two posts.

They come down, first three goals. They’re all routine coverage for me. Soft and loose, and we gave them the opportunities thinking our goaltender is going to save it. He doesn’t, it’s in the back of our net, it’s 3-0. Come out in the second, re-adjust, play hard, probably out-chance them 2-to-1 or 3-to-1, get out of the period 1-1. Their goalie is kicking, we’re not putting it in the back of the net, they come down get a chance, in the back of our net.

And the third period is unacceptable, unexplainable. That’s why it’s a blowout. We stopped playing. Looked like we couldn’t make a pass 10 feet in the third period. Giving up odd-man rushes every five seconds. Every rush attack they had ended up in a scoring chance against. Not good enough. It’s just guy’s quitting and not doing what they’re supposed to be doing. Feeling sorry for themselves.”

Bednar on the next steps for the Avalanche

“Go to work. You’re gonna work through it. If you’re not gonna work in the game, you’re gonna work in practice.”

Bednar on if his team quit

“Absolutely. There’s no other explanation for it. Piss-poor execution, guys giving up all over the ice. You’re at 5-1, and we’re still trying to tic-tac-toe pass it in a phone booth at their blueline? To hope to maybe get a scoring chance? Just kick it in below the goal line and get to work! So we give up two or three more Grade A scoring chances on breakaways, and turnovers. How many breakaways did they have in the third period? Three? Two of them end up in the back of our net. Seriously? They’re all from little turnovers at the blueline. One of them we got back three or four times. Everything is tightened up, it’s broken down. There’s no rush attack option, we’re still going to make, what, three foot passes when guys are right in the area trying to check us? It’s ridiculous.”

Bednar on if he’s seeing enough from the Avalanche leadership core

“No. If we did, we wouldn’t have done it.”

Bednar on the frustration

“I get the frustration, right? You come out flying, you get all these chances, it doesn’t go in, they go down and get one, hits two guys on the way into the net and it’s 1-0. Okay, we keep playing. I did not like the errors in the first period that led to 3-0, but you have no choice in this game but to continue to play and play as hard as you can possibly play. As soon as you don’t play as hard as you can possibly play, another team is going to make you look bad. Starts there. We have work to do in a lot of different areas. It’s not like they’re not putting it in, but I just don’t get the overall frustration, the fragmentation of the group, the quitting on the work ethic. That’s what happens when you do that. I don’t understand not just laying it on the line, and at least doing what you can do to play with some pride.”

Bednar’s concern level on Georgiev

“Same as the rest of the team.”