Avalanche confirm Jared Bednar injury after scary bench incident
Photo credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
Jared Bednar won't be behind the bench, and Dave Hakstol is now stepping in as the Colorado Avalanche adjust on the fly.
Bednar took a deflected puck to the right cheekbone Saturday in Vegas, and the damage is serious enough to keep him off the upcoming road trip.
The Avalanche confirmed facial fractures and a corneal abrasion, but no surgery is expected. That's the good news in a tough moment.
Hakstol took over mid-game and now gets the call for Monday in Edmonton, with Nolan Pratt working alongside him.
Colorado isn't easing into this. The playoffs are right around the corner, and the bench just lost its voice.
The timing hits hard. The Avalanche sit at 115 points and already locked into first overall, but rhythm matters this late in the season.
Scary moment as Avalanche confirm Jared Bednar injury before playoffs
This isn't just a fill-in situation. Bednar drives matchups, manages the bench, and controls the flow when games tighten up.
Now that responsibility shifts to Hakstol, who jumped in cold after the incident and finished the game under pressure.
Players felt it. The bench went quiet, then reset. You could see the adjustment in real time after Bednar exited.
Nolan Pratt didn't sugarcoat it postgame. He called the moment unsettling, especially with pucks flying unpredictably around the bench.
And it wasn't the only hit Colorado took. Josh Manson also left that game with an upper-body issue and didn't return.
That's two key pieces suddenly in question, even if Bednar is expected to recover fully without surgery.
The Avalanche still have control of their season, but the final stretch just got complicated. Road games in Western Canada aren't a casual tune-up.
Hakstol now manages the bench, the matchups, and the tone heading into playoff week. That's a heavy shift overnight.
For a team built on structure and pace, losing the head coach, even temporarily, changes the feel inside the room.
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