Chasing the Cup: Bednar’s journey to hockey’s biggest stage a lengthy one

The Colorado Avalanche could be Saskatchewan’s team in the Stanley Cup final.

Darcy Kuemper, Ryan Murray and head coach Jared Bednar all grew up in Saskatchewan, while Josh Manson has ties to the province.

This year’s final is particularly special for Bednar and his family.

He’s a product of Yorkton, but moved and lived in various cities and towns across the province during his childhood while his dad was a member of the RCMP.

Bednar has also taken a lengthy path to get to this point of his career.

His mother, Yvonne, said it’s incredible to see her son getting the opportunity to coach on the biggest stage in the world.

“It is very exciting for us,” she said Wednesday before Game 1 of the NHL final in Denver. “We’re just so proud of him, his accomplishments and his team. It’s just such a big moment for him and for us.”

Bednar spent five seasons playing in the WHL before bouncing around the ECHL, AHL and IHL from 1993 to 2002.

After he decided to hang up his skates with the South Carolina Stingrays following the 2002 season, Bednar went behind the Stingrays’ bench as an assistant coach.

Bednar remained in that position from 2002 through 2007 before becoming the head coach in South Carolina.

That opportunity helped him lead the Stingrays to a Kelly Cup championship in 2009 and land him a coaching job in the AHL shortly after.

After splitting time as an assistant and head coach with various AHL organizations, he took the Lake Erie Monsters to a Calder Cup championship in 2015-16.

Winning the Calder Cup in Cleveland led to Bednar becoming the head coach of the Avalanche.

Yvonne admitted she didn’t see her son becoming such a highly sought-after coach, given he didn’t have prior coaching experience.

“I didn’t see it early, actually not until he went into coaching. The flip side is he understands the game very well,” she said. “It shouldn’t have surprised me because he does seem to understand the game really well. He just seems to know the right thing to do.”

His mom credits his communication skills for the reason for why he has been able to have success at so many levels.

Jared Bednar. (Colorado Avalanche/Twitter)

“He has always been personable and got along easily with other people. His people skills were always there,” she explained.

“I think he’s really good at reading other people, seeing their strengths and encouraging. He’s honest, people trust him and he has that way that draws people to him, I feel.

“Between that and his knowledge of the game, he just knows the right thing to do in so many circumstances.”

While Bednar is having success now and is just four wins away from being on top of the hockey world, his NHL coaching career didn’t begin with sunshine and roses.

In his first season behind the Avs’ bench in 2016-17, Colorado posted a record of 22-56-4.

His mom feels while the start of his NHL career was rocky, she knew he could bounce back.

“That first year was really tough. I think he felt the stress probably internally more than he would show it,” she said.

“He always knew that given the chance he could be successful in the NHL. He just had that determination that if he had the chance that he’d be successful at it.”

After his first season, fans and media were calling for him to be fired, but management felt differently and decided to give him another chance. Since that nightmare of a season in 2016-17, Bednar has compiled a record of 218-112-46.

With the Stanley Cup final starting Wednesday night, Yvonne and her husband Wally will be watching from their home in Warman.

Although Jared isn’t on the ice anymore making the plays, Yvonne feels it’s just as stressful to watch even though he’s not skating.

“I’m not as concerned of him being injured, of course,” she joked. “The stress never goes away for me as a parent; it’s just there.”

Yvonne and Wally plan to attend games 5 and 7 in Denver — if those games are necessary — where they will hope to see their son lift Lord Stanley’s mug.