I don't think your reasoning for being so critical of Bednar is fair
@cinchronicity .
Sorry but must disagree. Bednar's 'system' is excellent, but is there anything earth shattering about having forwards backcheck? What else about his 'system' is elite?
Everyone has known about the importance of back checking for decades. Getting a team to buy into back checking on a consistent basis is the quality of a good coach.
The way the powerplay functions when PP1 has a Top 2 C and a top 2 Dman in the league? ( And Mikko as a sniper!)
Having an average PP like the Avs have had, or even a bad PP, is not the sign of a bad team or a bad coach. Plenty of great teams and coaches have had one of their special teams be really bad.
The inability, for 2 years, to form a D Zone exit strategy?
The Avs problem for the longest time was their defense, specifically it's mobility, and passing. For the longest time they pretty much only had one guy who could do it. It's silly to blame this on Bednar. Once he had more than one good PMD, their exit game has been among the best in the league.
The epidemic of too many men penalties last year?
It wasn't at all an epidemic. The Avs were middle of the pack last year, tied for the 15th fewest bench minors. This year they're tied for the 7th fewest.
Too many men penalties are often the players fault anyway, and you don't define a coach based on this type of penalty.
The Bednar Blender, which eliminates chemistry ( need not look further than Jost / Nuke / Donk playing together for 2 weeks)?
I don't like the blender either, but I've stopped complaining about it, because you can't argue that Bednar gets success with it. Especially with the defensive pairs which are constantly shuffling, while most of the defenseman are playing very well.
Bednar shuffles up the lines/pairs so much, that the downside of being unfamiliar with your linemates is no longer an issue, because everyone is familiar with playing with everyone.
The abject inability to come back when the other team scores first? The inability to mount a 3rd period comeback of any kind?
Last year, the Avs were 4th in winning % when trailing first, and 6th in winning % when trailing after one period.
This year they're 11th when trailing after one period, and 21st when trailing first, but that's in part because they've had so many injuries this year and couldn't score for a while. It's also a misleading number because the sample is so small. It's so rare that the Avs trail first, that despite that winning percentage, they have the 5th fewest losses when trailing first, with 5.
They haven't had a good winning percentage the last couple years when trailing after two periods, but this again is a non issue, because they don't lose many games.
This year they're tied for the 3rd fewest number of losses when trailing after two, with only 5 losses. Last year they were tied for the 2nd fewest number of losses when trailing after two, with only 13.
2 of their 3 wins against Dallas in the playoffs came when Dallas scored first, and we've seen multiple times this year, especially recently, Bednar coach the team to a comeback victory.
The inability to form a strategy to combat teams which clog up the N Zone?
This is a myth.
The Avs dominated the Coyotes in five games last year in the playoffs, winning the last two 7-1. The last two games of that series, and the first two games against Arizona this year, the Avs were 4-0 with a combined score of 23-6.
Avs are 7-0 in their last seven games, which includes six wins against trap teams like Arizona, LA, and Minnesota.
The score against these trap teams in the last seven games is 32-8. In the last three games (Arizona and Minny) the combined score was 16-2. Clearly they know how to beat these teams.
