Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar didn’t sugarcoat where he thinks things stand right now.
After another frustrating Sunday night loss, Bednar addressed what he wants from his group as the early-season inconsistency keeps hanging over a team that entered the year with big expectations. Colorado is 12 games into the season and sits at 6-5-1, and the uneven results have already turned into a concern.
“If I have to go into the room and motivate our team or an individual all the time, then they shouldn’t be here. They’re in the wrong league.”
That was the most direct part of Bednar’s message, as reported by Meghan Angley on X. It came with the Avalanche having lost three of their last four, and it fit the tone of a coach who clearly wants more than occasional bursts from a roster built to contend.
Before the season, the bar around this team was obvious: a run to the Stanley Cup finals. Colorado has veterans who bring both talent and the kind of hockey IQ that should help make that kind of push possible. But the on-ice product hasn’t been steady enough to match that vision.
Bednar did make clear that his frustration doesn’t erase his trust in the group.
“The key for me, what I want to know is that we’re on the same page. If we are, I have a lot of trust in our guys.”
“They know what our team looks like. Even this year, they know what it looks like when we are playing hard, when we are playing well.”
That’s the crux of it for Colorado: the coach knows what the standard looks like, and so do the players. The issue is whether they’re living up to it often enough.
Bednar also acknowledged his own role in the process. He said it’s his job to hold players accountable and offer encouragement, and he doesn’t shy away from hard conversations. What he is not interested in being is a daily cheerleader.
The Avalanche will get their next chance to respond on Wednesday when they host the New Jersey Devils in Ball Arena. A win wouldn’t wipe away the uneven start, but another flat performance would only add to the pressure and raise more questions about whether Bednar’s message is getting through.
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