Jared Bednar and Dave Hakstol are a couple of hockey lifers from Western Canada, and they’ve had plenty to chat about while getting ready for their first NHL season on a coaching staff together.
Hakstol had a very successful NCAA tenure at North Dakota and has been the head coach for two NHL clubs (Philadelphia and Seattle). His greatest NHL achievement was winning a playoff series in 2023 with the Kraken, an expansion team in just its second season.
Bednar and Avalanche fans have slightly different memories and emotions about that series.
“I didn’t talk about that,” Bednar said when asked if the two coaches have reminisced about when Hakstol’s Kraken upset the defending champion Avalanche in seven games.