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Jared Bednar and John Hynes share a mutual respect as opposing NHL head coaches in the Avalanche-Predators playoff series.
Long before their first-round matchup, with Colorado headed to Nashville with a 2-0 series lead for Game 3, Bednar and Hynes were American League Hockey coaches with a shared dream to someday lead an NHL franchise.
In January 2011, they were named co-head coaches of the Western Conference AHL All-Star team. It began a hockey friendship that continues to this day.
“You have this fraternity of guys that you’re familiar with and you get to know each other,” Bednar said.
Hynes added: “We’re both similar guys in age and experience coming up through the ranks together.”
The Avalanche hired Bednar in 2016 after he led Lake Erie (Blue Jackets affiliate) to a Calder Cup championship. Bednar has since compiled a 240-168 record through six NHL regular seasons in Colorado. He enters Game 3 with a 26-19 postseason record.
Hynes was initially hired by the Devils in 2015 from Wilkes-Barre (Penguins affiliate) and he was let go after five NHL seasons and a 150-159 regular-season record. The Predators turned to Hynes in 2019 and the team has since made three consecutive playoff appearances.
Both head coaches were quick to compliment one other during this past week at media sessions.
“(Bednar) understands the game well. He’s a really good teacher,” Hynes said. “He stays up to date with the trends of the game. The big thing, too, for sure coaching in the NHL, is his ability to manage people. He’s got a lot of really high-end players there. They’ve really become such a good team. I think that’s a credit to his ability.”
Bednar said: “(Hynes) is a great coach with a great history. He always gets his teams to play hard. You get to know those guys and you root for them when they’re not playing against you.”
Helm embraces postseason. Avalanche forward Darren Helm made his NHL playoff debut with the Red Wings in 2008 as a 21-year-old rookie and won the Stanley Cup. However, before his July signing with Colorado, Helm had not made a postseason appearance since 2016 in Detroit.
“I’ve definitely missed it. It’s exciting. It’s fun. The crowd has been great,” Helm said. “It’s been a while, so it’s taken me a shift or two to kind of get things going. But it’s definitely a different game out there. The competition and attitude. But I’m loving it.”
Helm has been a solid fourth-line contributor over two games of the Nashville series with seven hits, one block and a plus-two rating.
Kadri’s message. Avs forward Nazem Kadri spoke with local reporters on Friday for the first time since the publication of his first-person essay for The Players Tribune entitled: “I am who I am.” The 1,987-word piece examines his reputation after last year’s playoff suspension and his motivation to win a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche.
“It was a cool experience and something I haven’t done before,” Kadri said. “It’s a different perspective. A lot of people like to speculate about stories and about the past. I just feel like it was a good opportunity to set the record straight and kind of hear from my side of things.”
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