Bednar, 51, guided the Avalanche to its third consecutive division championship and sixth straight playoff appearance in 2022-23. Colorado’s three straight division titles are tied with Carolina for the longest active streak in the NHL, while its six consecutive playoff berths are tied for the third-longest active streak. Bednar is the first coach in Avalanche history to lead his teams to six consecutive postseason berths

The Avalanche is coming off back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time in franchise history, winning 51 games in 2022-23 after notching a club-record 56 victories the year before in 2021-22. The Avs are also coming off consecutive 100-point campaigns for just the third time in franchise annals.

Colorado has a 188-76-26 (.693) regular-season record since 2019-20, second best in the NHL behind only Boston (.716, 193-68-29). Bednar is the winningest coach in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history with a 291-192-53 (.592) record in 536 regular-season games behind the bench. He owns a 43-26-1 (.614) record in 70 postseason contests, the fourth-best playoff winning percentage all time (min 50 games) behind Glen Sather (.706), Toe Blake (.689), and Scotty Bowman (.632). Bednar’s 43 postseason wins rank second in franchise history next to only Bob Hartley (49).

The 2023-24 campaign marks Bednar’s 22nd season of coaching professional hockey, 14 of which have been as a head coach. He posted a .603 winning percentage as a minor league head coach (251-158-23-19). Bednar led the 2021-22 Avalanche to their most successful regular season in franchise history (56-19-7, 119 points) and continued that into the postseason with a 16-4 mark en route to capturing the Stanley Cup.

Bednar, who won a Calder Cup with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016 and a Kelly Cup with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009, became the first individual to win a championship in the NHL, AHL, and ECHL as a head coach. Colorado’s 72 combined regular season and playoff victories in 2021-22 matched the NHL record set by the 1976-77 Canadiens, 1983-84 Oilers, and 1995-96 Red Wings.

Bednar coached the Central Division during the 2022 NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas, the first Avalanche bench boss to serve as a head coach at the All-Star Game. Bednar passed Bob Hartley for the most wins by an Avalanche coach (194) on Nov. 24, 2021, and then became the franchise’s all-time winningest coach with his 266th victory on Jan. 24, 2023, against the Washington Capitals. He signed a two-year extension on Nov. 19, 2021.

The Saskatchewan native led the Avalanche to the Presidents’ Trophy and Honda West Division championship in 2020-21. The Avs, who finished last in the league in 2016-17, became the first NHL club to go from worst to first in four seasons or less since the 1970-71 Bruins. Bednar was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year during his second season in 2017-18. He led the Avs to a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 43-30-9 record (95 points), a jump of 47 points from the previous year. Colorado’s 47-point turnaround equaled the fourth-highest year-to-year improvement in NHL history. He joined Harry Sinden in 1967-68 as the only coaches in NHL history to record at least 20 more wins in their second season as a head coach than in their first. Sinden led the Boston Bruins to 37 victories in 1967-68 after winning 17 games in 1966-67.

In 2019-20, Bednar guided the Avalanche to a second-place finish in the Central Division and the Western Conference with 92 points in 70 games during the shortened campaign. The Avs were two points behind St. Louis (94) but played one fewer contest when the regular season was paused and eventually concluded. The Avalanche tied Tampa Bay for the third-most points in the NHL behind the Blues and Boston Bruins (100).

Prior to joining the Avalanche organization, Bednar guided the Columbus Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, to the 2016 Calder Cup championship. The Monsters finished second in the Central Division with a 43-22-6-5 record (97 points) and then proceeded to go 15-2 during the postseason, sweeping both the Western Conference Final and Calder Cup Final. Bednar served as the head coach of the Blue Jackets’ previous AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, in 2014-15 and also spent two seasons as the head coach of the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen from 2010-12. He began his coaching career as an assistant with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL in 2002-03. Bednar took over the Stingrays’ head coaching job in 2007-08 and in his second season led South Carolina to the 2009 Kelly Cup championship. He posted a .654 winning percentage (89-45-9) in two years as an ECHL head coach.

Jared was an assistant coach in the AHL with Abbotsford in 2009-10 and later served two seasons as an assistant with Springfield from 2012-14.

The defenseman played nine seasons of professional hockey, a career that spanned parts of eight seasons in the ECHL with the Huntington Blizzard and South Carolina Stingrays (1993-2002), parts of three seasons in the AHL with the St. John’s Maple Leafs and Rochester Americans (1996-2000), and one season in the IHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 1998-99. He was part of two Kelly Cup championship teams as a player, 1997 and 2001 with South Carolina.

Prior to turning pro, Bednar spent three seasons in the Western Hockey League from 1990-93, competing with the Saskatoon Blades, Spokane Chiefs, Medicine Hat Tigers, and Prince Albert Raiders. Bednar was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2020.

Jared and his wife, Susan, have a son, Kruz (22), and a daughter, Savega (17). Bednar, who lived in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, on two different occasions for a decade during his youth and also played for the Humboldt Broncos, is personally involved in helping the victims and families of the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus accident. Jared hosts a golf tournament in Humboldt each summer and during the 2022 event brought the Stanley Cup to share with the community.

Colorado’s power play ranked sixth in the league last season (24.5%) and has finished in the top 10 in five of Bennett’s six campaigns. In fact, over the last three years, the Avalanche’s PP unit has risen from eighth in the league in 2020-21 (22.7%) to seventh in 2021-22 (24.0%) to sixth last year (24.5%).

Bennett, 61, came to the Avalanche after spending 10 seasons as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues from 2007-17. Prior to his time with the Blues, the Innisfail, Alberta, native spent seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings (1999-2006).

On the international stage, Bennett served as the manager of high performance/video for the Canadian Hockey Association for two years. He was an assistant coach in charge of video for Canada’s silver medal-winning entry at the 1999 IIHF World Junior Championship, the gold medal-winning Canadian National Women’s Team at the 1999 IIHF Women’s World Championship, as well as Canada’s Men’s National Team at the 1999 IIHF World Championship. Bennett was also an assistant coach with Canada’s silver medal-winning women’s team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Bennett has also been the head coach at Red Deer College and held positions with the Spokane Chiefs, the World Junior Hockey Championship Association, Hockey Canada, the Moose Jaw Warriors, and the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association.

Ray and his wife, Karla have three children: Kale, Kassie, and Max.

Pratt’s duties with the team include overseeing the defense and penalty kill. The Avalanche featured the NHL’s highest-scoring blueline for the third straight year in 2022-23, as Colorado’s defensemen led all teams with 220 points (49 goals /171 assists). The Avs are the first club to lead all teams in blueline scoring outright for three straight years since the Detroit Red Wings from 1993-94 to 1995-96.

During their run to the 2022 Stanley Cup, Colorado’s backline registered 69 points (18g/51a), the most in a four-round postseason since the 1984-85 Oilers (77). At their own end of the ice, Pratt has elevated Colorado’s defense to among one of the best in the league, as the Avalanche have allowed the fifth-fewest goals-per-game (2.74) of any team over the last five seasons. The Avalanche’s penalty kill ranks ninth in the league since 2017-18 at 80.7%.

The 2016-17 campaign was Pratt’s first behind the bench in the NHL after spending five seasons as an assistant coach in the American Hockey League with the Lake Erie Monsters (2015-16) and the Springfield Falcons (2011-15).

A native of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Pratt spent 11 seasons in the NHL, playing 592 games with Hartford/Carolina, Colorado, Tampa Bay, and Buffalo. He was a member of the Avalanche’s 2001 Stanley Cup championship team, and also won a Cup as a member of the Lightning in 2003-04. Selected by the Whalers in the fifth round (115th overall) of the 1993 Entry Draft, Pratt finished with 65 points (nine goals, 56 assists) and 537 penalty minutes during his career, which included three points (1g/2a) in 46 games during his lone season with the Avs in 2000-01.

Nolan and his wife, Deborah, have two daughters, Ella and Kira.

Georgiev tied for the NHL lead with 40 wins in his first season with the Avs in 2022-23, while tying for second in shutouts (5). Prior to joining the Avalanche, Parkkila, 46, spent 12 seasons coaching goaltenders in Europe, which included a five-year stint in Russia’s KHL and two seasons in Finland’s top professional league (Liiga). He spent the 2016-17 campaign coaching goalies for the Grazz 99ers in Austria. Prior to that, Parkkila served as goaltending coach in the KHL with Avangard Omsk (2014-15), SKA St. Petersburg (2011-14), and Atlant Mytischi (2010-11).

After three years with the Ilves U-20 team in Finland, Parkkila began his pro coaching career with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in 2007-08. The Tampere, Finland, native then moved on to coach with Tappara in Finland’s top league for two seasons (2008-10).

Jussi resides in his native Finland during the offseason with his wife, Niina, and daughter, Julia.

Heimlich, 37, joined the Avalanche after nine years with the San Jose Sharks. He first joined the Sharks organization in 2004 in event services before working his way up to video assistant, where he directly assisted the coaching staff. He was later promoted to video coordinator, where he communicated on a headset with the club’s assistant coaches during games while controlling the team’s video capture and editing system.

A native of San Jose, Brett resides in Lone Tree with his wife, Amanda, son, Holden, and daughter, Hadley.

Petersen is no stranger to the Rocky Mountain region as he played four seasons at Colorado College from 1996-97 to 1999-2000, where he earned a degree in Psychology. Internationally, Petersen won a silver medal with the United States at the 1997 IIHF World Junior Championship and 10 years later represented the U.S. Men’s National Team at the 2007 IIHF World Championship. He also competed for Team USA at the 1998 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Petersen is the founder and owner of Peak Vision Hockey, a video analysis subscription service providing content and individual feedback that is tailored to a player’s skill set, play style, position, and role on the team.

Toby and his wife, Alexa, have three children, sons Bjorn and Elliott and daughter, Nola.