In Conversation With Jesse Montano: Jared Bednar Extends & Avalanche Statement Win

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2:01So you can find the right doctor or Dennis and book instantly. Taking care of your health just got easier. Download the ZockDock app today and book that appointment on your to-do list. That's ZOC, DOC, ZockDock. I'm Jesse. So we just had Kevin Kerazon. We loved Kevin. The team he covers lost seven nothing last night. The team you cover, one eight four and the star player and the team, not only did he have two goals, he dropped the gloves. I mean, what a statement for the Colorado avalanche last night. Can you feel it in the building? Can you feel it within the group? And I love, we looked at Nathan McKinnon's post game comments that you posted on Twitter last night just about the power play. It goes four for five. It allows two short-handed goals and Nathan McKinnon, while it was somewhat successful, it's still like not pleased, not happy. So so many things to take away from that game, but where do you kind of start with that win last night? Yeah, well, first of all, good morning. Good to see you guys. Yeah, it's great to see you guys.

3:02I'm great to see you. Sorry. Yeah. It was a crazy game. What? That was a crazy, you know, first game. I mean, talking like jumping into the deep end, like, all right, regular season hockey's back and then we get one of those. No, it was super fun. You know, the abs, I think, after that summer, there were a lot of questions around, do they still have the depth? Did they still have the firepower? You know, you move on, we got like, bounce the Jewish in, you know, Ross Colton, Jack Dury, played key roles in the bottom six last year. And, you know, everyone was just kind of coming to this camp, wondering where it was going to look like. And, you know, guys, like, I've come out of the last two weeks, training camp preseason, and then like, I'm not getting too carried away with last night, but like, this is a really good team still. I think James Schwartz is going to be a fantastic ad for them. I really like this camp. You know, we'll see, you know, if TJ Hughes has to go spend some time in the AHL, but like, he's been a revelation coming through camp. And then I even thought, you know, a guy like Fedor Sveschkov, who they acquired from

4:03Nashville, had a good game last night. So, you know, I think they've done a good job putting this team back together in a way that is, you know, at least on track with a group that they had last year. And then when you got Nathan McKinnon out there playing like that, like, who's going to stop you? Obviously, the special teams was part of the story last night, you know, and you look at all the power play goals. You also look at some of the shorthanded goals. You talk about Nathan McKinnon, you've been had some comments about it after the game. And Jesse, you tweeted 2.14 a.m. It's during time, but 12, 12, 14 Colorado mountain time, but it was a quote from Nathan McKinnon and it read, our power play unit needs to get on the same page a little bit. I think guys are a little stuck positionally. The abs 1, 4 for 5 on the power play tonight, but McKinnon still sees need for improvement. So the only pushback that I would have would just be some power plays have so much movement

5:09and I feel like they become, they look great, but they become, you know, your movement is almost taking your own time and space away. I think that's something that a lot of modern power plays do. They shrink the zone offensively so much. They make it easier on the penalty kill. I think about the one shorty last night where McKinnon tries to force a puck through the seam and then they end up with a 2 on 1 back the other way. Like why not kind of hang on to that go behind the net, but you know, what do you think? Like is in practice? Is there a lot of movement? Are they more stationary? Like what are you seeing sort of behind the scenes there with the power play? Yeah, you know, I'd never seen them work on the power plays, which is they did during camp this year. So we got a really good look at it. The issue with it for me last year, yes, you have a lack of movement, but it was also the puck movement was just slow. Like it felt like there were times, you know, last season where you'd be watching this group and you'd honestly, you know, the four guys just kind of staring at the puck carrier,

6:12kind of just waiting for him to do something. So yes, I'm with you, you know, Colby, like the movement is great. They've added some, you know, Nathan McKinnon's on his off wing now. But I think what he's referring to there is, you know, you've got a guy like Marty Neches, who is, you know, on the left side of the power play for a long time, team up one time. You know, you got Gabe Lannescock, who's down low and he tips Pucks and that's what he does. You know, you know, you watch that second unit last night, scored three of the power play goals of the four power play goals for the abs. And it's Brock Nelson. It's James Schwartz. It's Arturie Leckinon. It's Devon Taves. Like you've got some good players there. There was just, there was Pucks going to the net and guys following it there. And you know, it just felt like guys trying to create offense in creative ways. As were that top unit, you got a bunch of guys who have done the same thing for a long time and they've been successful at it, you know, at different points in their careers. And, you know, how many righties can you have taken one time? Or, you know, and you got McKinnon, you got Neches, you got McCarr on that unit.

7:15And so I think that's maybe a little bit of what Nate's referring to is like, you, you got to look at what that second group did in the way that they found ways to get Pucks to the net. They found ways to follow them there and pick up loose change. And that I think is maybe what's missing a bit from that top unit. It's a little bit too much looking for the perfect pass, looking for the right play, looking for that one extra pass to the weak side that the goalies got no chance on. You got to lead shooters that, you know, I was talking to John Michael Isle the other day. And like, I'd like to see Cal McCarr rip the puck from the, you know, from the point a little bit more, you got Gabe Landis gone down low, you got Nathan McKinnon going to the net. I think there's a lot of overthinking with that, that unit that Nathan McKinnon's on and simplified get Pucks to the net, you know, nothing, nothing crazy here. But I think that example of what you're talking about with trying to find that puck, or that, that seems at least a short hand in goal is maybe a good example. Why are you forcing that puck through a seam there? You know, you're Nathan McKinnon drive that to the net. I am happy you mentioned Brach Nelson, like earlier in part of that.

8:18And listen, anyone can point to the fact that he had three points last night and say he looks good. He looked comfortable. But now that he's in his second full year, like this is a guy who spent north of the decade in one organization, like because you talked to him in the locker room and stuff, do you find that he's a more comfortable version of himself now in that locker room? Because, you know, I do feel like, and again, like we're not on the team, but you hear things, right? That like sometimes the avalanche locker room is just like a little bit hard to get acclimated to because of the intensity of it, you know, and I'm wondering if you've kind of felt that from Brach. Johnny, I actually had that conversation with him about a week ago of just like, I know you were here last year for camp and I was like, I have to imagine a few more settled. And he like emphatically was like, yes, I like, I finally feel really comfortable. And I know the systems and, you know, I love the guys and, you know, he's got his family out here and kids are in sports and enrolled in schools and all that stuff. And so, you know, he was able to spend a bunch of the summer here.

9:20I think he does feel a lot more comfortable. And I also think that there's maybe an element of it. Like, you know, when the avas brought him in, it was like, hey, we need you to come be the, the two C kind of solve this problem. And hey, we're going on these cup runs and we need you to be a key contributor. And I think he's just is comfortable with where he's at. He's comfortable with his role. He's comfortable with the guys that he's playing with. You know, it was it was a disappointing last month and a half for him. I think regular season and playoffs from a production standpoint. You know, he talked to me about it like in that Western comment spinal. He had a few looks in kind of key moments that, you know, he couldn't capitalize on. And he's like, you know, I had to kind of wrestle with that for a, you know, a couple of weeks after. But, you know, moving forward and, you know, we've got a great group here. And so I, oh, where I was going that sorry, it was, you know, it's his point last month and a half. He had a great year. You know, he had a great year for the abs. You know, goes and wins a gold medal and played a key role. You know, in that penalty kill and and 14 USA.

10:23So like, he's got a great year to build off of. And I think you're spot on Johnny, like with him feeling more comfortable things like that. I think, I think he could be a key, key player in this top six for the abs. I really like his game. I think I was actually on, on your guys' show early in the year saying, this guy could get some selfie attention and he ends up being a finalist. So, you know, first, first selfie finalist for the abs, I think ever. So I, you know, I think he can play a key two way role for them. All right. I want to switch gears a little bit and talk about Jared Bednar. And yes, you know, I, I, I wasn't sure when Joe took over as, you know, I don't know if the word was interim GM again. I'm not sure what they were physically calling it in the beginning. But now we know a couple of things. Joe Sackic is going to be the general manager of this team. That surprised me. The reason it surprised me is because, you know, talking to Joe,

11:27I think he was really enjoying being the president of hockey operations. I think his golf game was sky high. And I think he loved, he loved that he was still involved and he was still in the conversation. But he had really good people beneath him that could make the decisions on a day to day basis, right? And obviously we've heard Joe Sackic's name. He's going to be, you know, part of a, of a USA, Joe ownership group, which is super exciting. We know he's got other things going on. So then we see he's going to be the full time general manager of this team, which I love. I'm excited about Joe Sackic. To me is, you know, I grew up, you know, he was one of my two or three favorite players growing up that I still, I still get sort of the chills when I see him and I get to talk to him where I get it. Yeah. That's something it still makes, you know, it still gives me goosebumps, right? We now know he's all in on Jared Bednar because I think in the media,

12:29we created some questions that clearly were not true. Like, hey, what if they don't win a cup this year? Is it cup or bust? Is it time for a new voice? Is it time for a new coach? Well, a four year contract extension does not say to me cup or bust. It says, we have the best coach. We love this coach and he will be the coach of this team for, you know, the future. Were you surprised by a four year contract extension or any of what has transpired since Joe officially announced that he would be the general manager moving forward and not just in an interim position? That I think was most surprised me. I'll get to the contract extension in a second because the term did surprise me a bit. But no, I'm totally with you. Like, I was expecting Joe Sackic to step in kind of in the immediate. It was right before the draft and yet free agency coming up and I said, all right, that makes sense. Joe will take the reins for the next few weeks, get him through these kind of key parts in the summer. And then they'll put someone in place and, you know, Andrew Cogliano, who was just promoted two days ago to assistant general manager

13:36was kind of who I was looking at that I thought they would tap internally and, you know, it does look like that's the eventual succession plan. But when Joe came out and was like, no, I've kind of been reinvigorated by this. And like I feel the fire and I feel the passion and I want to be in it, you know, for, you know, indefinitely going forward. I was surprised a little bit because I had heard the same thing that he was really enjoying getting to be, you know, what maybe one layer removed. Like you said, still got to have say, still got to be involved. But yeah, got to have time to be on the golf course, spend time with family and things like that. So I was a little surprised, but I mean, he seems all in and like he even had a little bit of fire in his you know, preseason press conference yesterday. There was someone that kind of challenged him a little bit on like, well, hey, you guys have been eliminated. You know, by the same team, do you know, same type of team the last few years, do you think that bringing back bednar is the right thing? And he got kind of defensive in a little firing. You saw the the Joe Sackic pushback.

14:36And so it was, you can definitely see it in him. As for Jared, bednar look, we talked about it at the beginning of summer. Like I thought he was the best coach for this team. The message still resonates. The guys really like him. But you're right. Like a four year deal does not say, well, we want to see you have a good, you know, finish this year and let's see what happened. That says, no, we trust you with our team as we go forward here into, you know, not a transitionary period. But I do think after this year, like you're going to have to put more emphasis on the youth. And they're already talking about that. You know, wanting to get an injection of young players in that, you know, they don't think free agency is going to be a path in the future to really making your team better. You got to draft, you got to make big trades. I mean, they're saying, Jared, bednar, we think you are the right guy to navigate us through this change landscape and the league, you know, a change that we're going to go through as an organization over the next few years. And, and, you know, I asked both Jared, bednar and Joe Sackic about it yesterday that, you know,

15:39there's clearly a big sense of trust in Jared, bednar and you can trace that all the way back 10 years ago when he finished a season with 48 points in his rookie season as a coach. And they brought him back and he has told us, I didn't think they were going to bring me back. I wouldn't have blamed him. I wouldn't have felt any hard feelings like it was that bad. But Joe Sackic from that point to yesterday has maintained. He has the right vision. He has the right demeanor. He has the respect of our players and he also told me at the beginning of summer, he's more than the head coach. We build our team around how Jared bednar likes to play. You know, we have his input when we're, you know, evaluating guys, looking at guys to bring in. They think very highly of him and the 40 or extension reflects that. And like I said, maybe more term than I was. So I'm going to respectfully disagree with you, Jesse and then disrespectfully disagree with Colby. Just because I do think when you have McKinnon and you have McCarr, you get rid of Rantin and bringing Nhatius.

16:44You go get Coddry, you go get Brock Nelson. They've done things to be a cup or bus team. And, you know, I know Kale has now signed in. He's here for the next nine years. So not every year is like desperate to go do it. But we've talked about the Colorado avalanche being the most loaded team in the league. Granted, they were looking for a second line center for a couple of those years for the last like five or six years. Like last year and there's a comment in the chat that I want to read from Oz, Oz, Oz, Oz. The apps collapsed last year. Didn't seem to get enough criticism. Did people take it easy on them because McCarr was hurt. They were still loaded. I agree. They were still loaded. Like, yes, it does hurt when the best offensive in the game is hurt and unable to play. But I do think the criticism wasn't nearly as enough as it would have been. Let's say it was maybe it could have been like an East Coast bias thing, right? Like I think maybe East Coast teams get a little bit more criticism from time to time for whatever reason. But I don't know. I do think with the abs with the roster they've constructed, no matter what term Bednar has every year to me is cup or bus with the players on their roster.

17:50Yeah. And Joe Sackie talked about the cup or bus stuff a little bit yesterday. He said, look, internally, yeah, we always want to go in the Stanley Cup. And he did push back on the coaching side of the criticism of like, hey, look, Jared Bednar is not out there running the power play. He's not out there on the ice when we need a big save. So that was kind of how he defended the argument. But, you know, Johnny, I think it's interesting because I agree with you. Like, they haven't just lost the last two years in the playoffs. They have lost in like brutal heartbreaking, you know, just stick with you all summer. Yeah. Action. And two years ago was what the Dushan, that was the Dushan. Dallas. Yeah, yeah. Dallas. No, he was the Mico Rantzenin Game 7 atrick. Oh, yeah. Two nothing with 10 minutes left. Mico scores three. And so, you know, you had these two playoff exits in a row that weren't just regular exits. And so, you know, that was the part where I maybe thought, hey, maybe you do make a change.

18:55And maybe they looked at, you know, internally saying, okay, well, Chris McFarland moved on. That's our big shake. We don't need to do more than that. Yeah, you know, I'm not sure. Like, you know, Nathan McKinnon was dinged up. Camacar was dinged up. Brent Burns was dealing with injuries. But you're right. Like, that roster was built to sustain injuries, to go on a deep run. And, you know, none of the guys are making excuses in any of that. But, yeah, it's why I thought we would see a shorter extension for Jared Bednar and a little bit of like, hey, you can't have another ending like that. But like, like, Colby was saying, like, I do think the four years says that that's just not how they're thinking. And that's maybe why it was a little bit surprised. But I do also think that that says something to how highly they think of Jared Bednar. And if you moved on from him, he'd be hired, you know, by the end of this sentence, you know, he would he would garner a lot of interest. Yeah. I understand that. Yeah, he would be, he would be like when Bruce Cassidy got fired or even when Jim Montgomery,

20:01who when he was let go by the Bruins within days, he was the coach of the St. Louis Blues. And so there's definitely a reputation for some of these gentlemen where, you know, they continue to get hired. I mean, they were talking about it for LA last night right off the top. This is Peter Lovia. Let's 23rd season coaching in the National Hockey League. Like he sees work with quite a few teams. And I think we get frustrated about that. But at the end of the day, there's a reason these guys get hired. There's a reason these guys continue to get hired. And it's not easy to walk inside a locker room when there's $130 million in salary amongst 23 human beings and you have to command the room. It is a tricky line to walk, especially in Colorado's locker room. Like I think that that's a very specific locker room. And I think that they feel like Jared Bednar has the right temperament and the right

21:01cachet to deal with that group. So let me just ask you one more question. Is there any player that we probably aren't talking about that we think could have a breakout season in Colorado? I think we all have our expectations on the big dogs. But, you know, do we have? I think Jade and Schwartz can sort of recreate some of his magic and have like a big breakout year. Because, you know, we forgot about Jade and Schwartz. He went to Seattle and it's sort of an easy place to get forgotten about right now. And that's no fault of anyone but their own. Sorry, Jenna. Yes. I seem to remember a guy who was incredibly impactful in St. Louis. He's incredibly well liked. I've had a chance to be around him at a couple of weddings over the years. People gravitate towards him. And, you know, he's got leadership qualities and he's worn letters all through his career.

22:02And then, you know, you mentioned TJ Hughes. I think we all need to be a little patient there. We'd love what this kid can do. But most guys need a little bit of time in the American league. You don't see players that just come in especially on a team like Colorado. You know, Parker Kelly is a guy that finds his way in and out of the score sheet and does other things for you that can be vitally important. But, you know, is there one for you that you think, you know what? This is, you know, I remember Ross Colton had a big breakout year one year and scored all those goals. And there's been other players for the abs that have sort of built their career in Colorado and then went and made a lot of money somewhere else. Who's getting that guy this season? So Parker Kelly has been my answer for this for the last couple of years. But I mean, he scored 21 last year. So it's, I don't know if he's, you know, breakout candidate anymore. I think James Schwartz is going to have a big year for a lot of the reason that you just called out Colby. And like Nathan McKinnon was really excited about James Schwartz coming to Colorado.

23:04He has brought him up multiple times. Like he wanted to play here. I'm so excited to have him here. I think he's going to be a really versatile player. And he was a big part of that power play, second power play unit being as impactful as that more last night. So I do think James Schwartz is a great answer. But, but the guy that I really liked his fit post deadline last year, he scored the last night as Nick Wall. He just gives the abs something very different. He was highly productive for them in the playoffs. And he's going to play in that bottom six. He can play down the middle. He can swing out to the wall. And he just really seemed to fit instantly in Jared Bednar's system last year. And it seemed to kind of like what you were you're talking about. They like it opened up the offense form and the playoffs in ways that we really were excuse me, expecting. And he had some really big moments for the ad where he scored key goals for them. And then again, he gets involved last night going to the net, finding a loose puck and some chaos. So Nick was my guy that I think is going to fly a little bit under the radar and play in a,

24:10you know, I said, you know, a middle six, bottom six role. But I think it's going to be big for the app. So him and Jayden Schwartz are my two guys that I would say most people probably aren't keeping a super close eye on in Colorado that I think people should. And then yeah, the big dogs as well. Who do the apps have coming up here? So they got a really weird schedule. So you got St. Louis on Saturday. And then they don't play again until like Tuesday or Wednesday. Oh, wow, that's bizarre. So yeah, they yeah, they've got a weird, a weird start here. So, you know, we're literally one game into the season and they're already kind of juggling like, all right, well, we want to take an update here, but we'll practice these days. And so yeah, so St. Louis on Saturday. All right. Well, I can't wait to watch the ads this year, man. They were fun. The power play was fun. Obviously, any time you got Nathan McKinnon and Camacar on the IC, yeah, they're it's fun. Jesse, you're the best. Thanks for waking up early with us this morning. We always appreciate it.

25:11Must have had three hours of sleep last night. So go rest up before the game Saturday. We look forward to hearing from you a lot throughout the year. You do great work and keep it up, right? You guys are the best. Yeah, late night last night, but I've always got time to get up and chat with you guys. So really appreciate it, boys. We'll see you. Go to Mavs, guy. Yeah, you are. Thank you. Thanks. Appreciate it, boys. We'll see you. Hi, this is Brooke Tavard from Naked Beauty. I am always looking for ways to elevate our daily rituals. And the colder smart toilet is proof that design changes everything. It's the stunning sculptural piece that feels like quiet luxury for your bathroom. It totally transforms your daily ritual into something elevated with customizable cleansing and touch screen controls. It's functional art that makes your space feel cleaner and more intentional. A modern home deserves a modern toilet. Experience the difference of colder smart toilets. Find more at colour.com. At Edward Jones, we believe Rich is more than caring about the latest and greatest.

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