The Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 on Saturday to take a 1-0 lead in their first-round series. This is Colorado’s eighth trip to the playoffs in Jared Bednar’s nine years as the head coach. With one Stanley Cup already, Bednar is entrenched in franchise history. But on Saturday, Jared Bednar became the winningest playoff coach in Avalanche/Nordiques history with his 50th victory.
Avalanche Media and Player Relations VP Brendan McNicholas put the news out on Saturday after the team’s win. Bednar surpassed Bob Hartley, who won the 2001 Stanley Cup Final. In his other three seasons as the coach, he brought the Avs to the Conference Final.
Bednar has also joined legends outside the Avalanche franchise in playoff history. He is the third-fastest coach to reach 50 career playoff wins, tied with Lindy Ruff, and has the fourth-best winning percentage in playoff history. If he picks up his second Stanley Cup title in the process, he would cement himself as the greatest coach in franchise history.
The Avalanche moved to Denver from Quebec City before the 1995-96 season. Marc Crawford won two of his 31 playoff games with the Nordiques. And all of Michel Bergeron’s 31 wins came before the move from Quebec to Denver.
The Avalanche can make a deep playoff run
Bednar is leading one of the more unique Avalanche teams assembled during his tenure. The year started with Mikko Rantanen in a contract year and ended with the Finnish forward on the Dallas Stars. They added Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle , Martin Necas, Jack Drury, Ryan Lindgren, and Jimmy Vesey to the fold through trades. While that is an added challenge for the coach, they took it in stride.
The Stars are a tough matchup on paper, but are starting the series without two of their best players. Miro Heiskanen just returned to the ice and does not have a targeted return date. Jason Robertson got hurt in the final regular-season game and is listed as week-to-week. Without their top center and top defenseman, it will be hard for Dallas to beat the Avalanche.
Even without the home ice advantage, Bednar’s Avalanche stifled Dallas in Game 1 on Saturday. If they can pull off another upset on Monday, they will be in a great position when they return to Denver. Captain Gabriel Landeskog could be making a triumphant return that would galvanize the team.
The Avalanche and Stars play Game 2 of their first-round matchup on Monday in Dallas.
