'There's No Better Feeling'

Colorado's bench boss is here to stay.
For Jared Bednar, 'there's no better feeling' than coming to work everyday as the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. And as of Tuesday afternoon, the Yorkton, Saskatchewan native signed a three-year contract extension through the 2026-27 season.

Bednar is currently in his seventh season as head coach and is the third-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper (March 25, 2013) and Pittsburgh's Mike Sullivan (Dec. 12, 2015). The 51-year-old is the franchise's winningest coach with a 281-191-52 (.587) record in 524 regular-season games behind the bench and led the Avalanche to the organization's third Stanley Cup last June.In doing so, Bednar made history as the only coach to win a championship in the NHL, AHL and ECHL as a head coach.
"I'm glad to get it done," Bednar said on Wednesday morning ahead of Colorado's game against Pittsburgh. "I'm excited to be back and staying for a little bit. Whenever you can be part of a team where a group of players, management and staff grows together, learns together, competes together to accomplish a common goal which is obviously winning, there's no better feeling. I love my job here, the players that I work with, I think we've got a good thing going. We're excited to continue it."

For Bednar, it's been quite the journey from his first season with the team to now coaching the defending Stanley Cup champs. During his first season - when he took over the team on Aug. 25, 2016 just a few weeks before training camp - the Avalanche finished the season with a dismal 48-points (22-56-4). In the time since under his tenure, the Avalanche have become a continuous contender and established a culture of excellence where the team owns a 178-74-25 (.688) record since 2019-20 - which ranks second best in the NHL behind Boston - and a 259-134-48 (.642) mark since 2017-18 - which ranks the fourth best in the NHL and tops in the Western Conference.
And while his tenure has featured a range of everything from waves of adversity, eventual triumph and the challenge of continuously evolving, Bednar is proud of the growth he's undergone as an individual as well as the impact he and his staff's leadership has had on the team's ability to remain a dynamic threat.
"It's not a forgiving league or sport, that's part of the reason why I am so grateful," Bednar said. "There were times over my tenure that got a little hairy.
"You can set individual goals for yourself and things you want to accomplish for life," Bednar continued. "But when you're able to have goals with a great group of people around you, friends, teammates and a great group of competitors you're able to set goals as a group and then accomplish those. There's no better feeling than that."
And while it's certainly an impressive feat and a testament to his leadership and character to be one of the longest tenured head coaches in the NHL, it's a mutual appreciation for Bednar towards his staff, management and of course, the players.

Under his tutelage and in unison with the meticulous architecture constructed by President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic and General Manager Chris MacFarland, the Avalanche have benefitted and will look to continue to flourish from having locked up a core of players like; Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar especially as they continue defending their current title.
"You always strive to get better. You get comfortable with what you're doing and then try to get better and take the next step. It's an ongoing process. There's a familiarity with the league, the coaches, the processes, what works and what doesn't. There's still a lot of experimentation going on. You learn and there's no substitute for experience on what works and what doesn't. It's just staying clear. Especially, when you're doing it with the same core of individuals we all have the same learning process. We can remember things that helped us and things that have hurt us, some of the good times along the way and some of the bad times along the way. You can draw back on those experiences and they can help you moving forward.