It's finally here, Jared Bednar's first regular-season game as an NHL coach - The Denver Post

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Avalanche coach Jared Bednar Friday night was able to reflect about his imminent NHL coaching debut with his parents, Wally and Yvonne, who traveled in for the occasion from their home near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

“It’s something I’ve been working towards my whole coaching life, so it’s exciting for me,” Bednar said after Saturday’s morning skate, a few hours ahead of Colorado’s regular-season opener against the Dallas Stars at the Pepsi Center. “I’ve had a chance to sit and talk with my family about it. We went out to dinner last night. But for me, it’s just the first step. To me, winning is what I want to do here, it’s not just to be here and see how it goes. I’m all in on this deal and in order for me to be happy, we’re going to have to have success.”

Wally Bednar is a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, and his nomadic career in Saskatchewan meant that Jared lived mostly in small towns while growing up. Jared met his wife, Susan, while playing in the East Coast Hockey League for the Huntington (W. Va.) Blizzard in the home of Marshall University. Susan and the Bednars’ daughter, Savega, have remained at the family home in Charleston, S.C., this weekend, and plan to join Jared in Denver from around Christmas on. The Bednars’ son, Kruz, 16, already is with his dad and is attending Valor Christian High School.

So regardless of where everyone in the family is this weekend, Bednar’s NHL debut — he didn’t play and hasn’t previously coached in the league — is a big deal. Bednar has been asked about that virtually since the moment he was hired on Aug. 25, and on Saturday he deftly at first addressed follow-ups about opening night with comments about the team, not him.

“We’re excited,” Bednar said. “I think our whole group’s excited. It’s our first chance to make an impression on our fans and try to establish our ability in our home building. Our guys are excited, we’re excited, we want to get started and see how we match up against one of the league’s best.”

The NHL season opened Wednesday, and the Avalanche, Canucks and Coyotes are the three teams that haven’t played a game. On Saturday, Arizona is at home against Philadelphia and Vancouver has a home game against Calgary.

After facing the Stars, the Avalanche has a testing four-game road trip that begins at Pittsburgh Monday night.

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Terry Frei’s profile of Bednar: The man from Elbow, Saskatchewan, and a lot of other places 

As opening night approaches, Terry Frei’s look at Bednar and his system

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