Jared Bednar

Jared Bednar
Born (1972-02-28) February 28, 1972
Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for Huntington Blizzard
South Carolina Stingrays
St. John's Maple Leafs
Grand Rapids Griffins
Rochester Americans
Playing career 19932002

Jared Bednar (born February 28, 1972) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

Bednar played junior hockey with the Western Hockey League's Saskatoon Blades, Spokane Chiefs, Medicine Hat Tigers, and Prince Albert Raiders, from 1990 to 1993, playing in 152 games with 520 combined penalty minutes, establishing himself as a physical player. After going undrafted by the NHL, Bednar made his professional debut during the 1993–94 season, with the Huntington Blizzard of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He played three seasons with the team, posting a career high in points during the 1994–95 season, with 45 in 64 games.

Bednar joined the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays halfway through the 1995–96 season, posting 24 points and 126 penalty minutes in his first 39 games. From 1995 to 1998, he played mostly with the Stingrays, with small stints in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the St. John's Maple Leafs and Rochester Americans. He played the 1998–99 season with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the International Hockey League (IHL), racking up 21 points and 220 PIMS in 71 games with the Griffins. Bednar re-joined the Stingrays for the 1999–2000 season and played two more seasons with the Rays. He announced his retirement after the 2001–02 season.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Bednar became the assistant coach of the Stingrays from 2002 to 2007. After head coach Jason Fitzsimmons stepped down, Bednar was promoted and became the new head coach for the 2007–08 season. His first season as coach was extremely successful, with the Stingrays winning 47 games in the regular season, and making it to the American Conference finals in the playoffs. After another successful season in 2008–09, the Stingrays won the Kelly Cup, giving Bednar his first championship as a coach in only his second season.

After winning the Cup, Bednar stepped down as head coach of the Stingrays and became the assistant coach of the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL for the 2009–10 season. He was then the head coach of the AHL's Peoria Rivermen from 2010 through 2012.

The Columbus Blue Jackets hired Bednar as an assistant coach for their minor league AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, beginning with the 2012–13 season. After serving in this role for two seasons, he was promoted to head coach following the promotion of Brad Larsen to Columbus' staff. For the 2015–16 season, Columbus shifted their AHL affiliate to the Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland. Bednar followed the affiliation to Cleveland and continued as head coach. Lake Erie went 15-2 in the 2016 Calder Cup playoffs to capture the franchise's first championship and the first for the city of Cleveland since the original Cleveland Barons won the 1964 Calder Cup.[1] He was later rewarded by the Blue Jackets with a two-year contract extension through to the 2018–19 season on July 19, 2016.[2]

On August 25, 2016, Bednar was named head coach of the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL).[3][4]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1990–91 Saskatoon Blades WHL 28 1 5 6 30
1991–92 Spokane Chiefs WHL 62 7 17 24 200 7 2 1 3 9
1992–93 Spokane Chiefs WHL 16 2 14 16 62
1992–93 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 9 1 4 5 20
1992–93 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 37 6 16 22 56
1993–94 Huntington Blizzard ECHL 66 8 11 19 115
1994–95 Huntington Blizzard ECHL 64 9 36 45 211 2 0 2 2 4
1995–96 Huntington Blizzard ECHL 25 4 10 14 90
1995–96 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 39 2 22 24 126 8 0 0 0 26
1996–97 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 55 1 2 3 151
1996–97 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 15 1 2 3 28 15 1 4 5 59
1997–98 Rochester Americans AHL 19 0 2 2 49
1997–98 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 36 4 4 8 126 5 1 2 3 17
1998–99 Grand Rapids Griffins IHL 74 3 18 21 220
1999–00 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 61 4 13 17 214 10 0 2 2 25
1999–00 Rochester Americans AHL 1 0 0 0 0
2000–01 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 57 6 9 15 155 15 0 5 5 24
2001–02 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 71 5 23 28 145 1 0 0 0 2
ECHL totals 434 61 130 191 1,210 46 2 15 15 157
IHL totals 74 3 18 21 220
AHL totals 74 1 4 5 200 1 0 0 0 0

References

  1. "Monsters win Calder Cup". Columbus Blue Jackets. 2016-06-12. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  2. "Bednar signs two-year extension". Columbus Blue Jackets. 2016-07-19. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  3. Sadowski, Rick (August 25, 2016). "Jared Bednar hired as Avalanche coach". NHL.com. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  4. Frei, Terry; Chambers, Mike (August 25, 2016). "Jared Bednar selected as new Colorado Avalanche head coach". The Denver Post. Retrieved August 26, 2016.

External links

Preceded by
Jason Fitzsimmons
South Carolina Stingrays head coach
200709
Succeeded by
Cail MacLean
Preceded by
Brad Larsen
Springfield Falcons head coach
2014–15
Succeeded by
Ron Rolston
Preceded by
Dean Chynoweth
Lake Erie Monsters head coach
2015–16
Succeeded by
John Madden
Preceded by
Patrick Roy
Head coach of the Colorado Avalanche
2016–present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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