Avalanche Journal: Canada’s biggest 4 Nations snub? Avs coach Jared Bednar

The Colorado Avalanche will be well represented when Bell Centre is filled with maple leaf flag-waving patrons next week, but there’s one more guy who should be there.

Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Devon Toews will all pull on Canadian sweaters for the first time in a best-on-best international tournament when the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off begins Wednesday night in Montreal with Canada facing Sweden. It will be an incredible moment for all three, a lifelong dream realized and one they’ve had to wait much longer than expected to fulfill.

Their coach should be standing on the bench behind them.

Jared Bednar has been one of the most successful NHL coaches since arriving in Denver. There are a lot of great Canadian-born coaches in the league, but it’s hard to find three or four more deserving than Bednar.

“His winning percentage in the last 6, 7, 8 years has to be right up there with anybody,” MacKinnon said. “He’s had a lot of adversity to deal with, too. I don’t think he’s ever had a healthy team, which is tough. I supposed the 2021-22 (squad), that was his healthiest team and we were the best in the league.”

Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper will be the head coach for Canada at both the 4 Nations tournament, which will be split between Montreal and Boston, and the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. Cooper is a deserving choice.

He’s one of two current coaches with multiple Stanley Cup rings, and a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame. The other guy with multiple titles is Mike Sullivan, who will be coaching the United States.

Cooper’s assistants are Peter DeBoer, Bruce Cassidy and Rick Tocchet. All are very good NHL head coaches. DeBoer might be the best coach in league history that hasn’t lifted the Stanley Cup. Cassidy won it two years ago with Vegas. Nothing against Tocchet, but Bednar would have been a great choice for the final spot.

“Sure, yeah. Why not?” Bednar said when asked if coaching for Canada is a career goal. “If you ever get that opportunity to go, it would be exciting for anyone.

“I’m looking forward to watching this. It’s been a while since we’ve seen it. I think the players are pretty excited for it. Representing your country is something that is exciting for everybody involved — players, coaches, trainers, everybody that gets to go. I’m glad that it’s coming back around.”

Bednar has won the Stanley Cup. He’s steered a championship contender through a myriad of injuries, including losing his heart-and-soul captain for nearly three years now.

The call from Hockey Canada still hasn’t happened.

“It’s a great, great question,” Makar said when asked why Bednar has never coached for Canada. “I mean, I don’t really know. I think they always look for different styles of coaches. You’d think he’ll be there at some point. I’d be cool for him to represent us because he’s had so much success here.

“I’d love to see him there. I’m sure he will be one day.”

Bednar’s team has collected 762 points since the start of the 2017-18 season. That’s third behind Boston and Tampa Bay. The Avs also have the most wins since 2019-20 and second-most points, behind only the Bruins.

His team obviously has had a very talented roster, but one of Bednar’s strengths as a coach is how he manages his best players — both on and off the ice. That feels like an important trait. Canada’s roster is always going to be filled with great players.

“I think he’s a phenomenal coach,” MacKinnon said. “You can tell how hard he works. He’s always very well-prepared. His video is detailed. The pre-scouts are detailed. When we go over our game, it’s pretty clear. I wish we could have maybe had a better season for him, and he could have gotten the nod for Canada.”

Bednar is one of the best coaches in the league at not only embracing the use of analytics, but integrating them into every aspect of his job. The Avs are a model franchise with how the information flows at all levels, so much so that Winnipeg’s new coaching staff reached out after Colorado crushed the Jets in the opening round last season.

This season might be Bednar’s best coaching job since he arrived in Denver. The Avs have been besieged by injuries and availability issues from the start. He’s had to integrate two new goaltenders and manage the fallout after Colorado traded one of the best players in the world in the most stunning in-season NHL trade in two decades.

And yet, the Avs are still just four points back of the Edmonton Oilers, who have the second-best record in the West and are third overall in the league, after defeating them Friday night at Rogers Place.

It was a huge, wild game. MacKinnon and Makar were awesome — the kind of performances Canada will need at the 4 Nations and in Italy.

Hockey Canada should find a way to make sure Bednar is part of Cooper’s staff next year as well.

“He’s also just a great person,” MacKinnon said of his coach. “He’s asking about the tournament. He’s excited for us that we’re going. There’s no bitterness at all. I think that’s pretty rare.

“I’m sure he’d love to be there, and I’m sure one day he will be.”

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