Jared Bednar HONEST About Mikko Rantanen, Brent Burns’ 1500th NHL Game & More

Jared Bednar HONEST About Mikko Rantanen, Brent Burns’ 1500th NHL Game & More

to sleep on it. I’m sure look at some tape. Uh I guess just impressions on on the whole last night now, you know, 12 hours later. Just by some things I like like I think we were played with a good conscience again away from the puck. um you know, competitive at times, but the the puck management, puck decisions was just so poor and execution was so poor that you know, we gave up way too much on the because of our turnovers. You know, almost all their chances came off turnovers off our stick and you know, some forced, but a lot just like unforced errors. How much of that is what Utah’s doing and how much of it was kind of both sides like it see I think Utah had 28 giveaways after two periods or something. Yeah. Well, it was like I said some were forced like they did a nice job in their checking. They had tight gaps. They were above the puck the whole night but there’s I mean you got to play behind them if they’re doing that. You know, you got to force them into foot races and we just I I don’t want to say we’re stubborn. We just didn’t make very good decisions. So yeah, and we kind of fluff the puck around the ice for most of the night and you know that’s a recipe for disaster especially if you don’t have your legs feel like there’s I mean I’m sure there is but like two games in you guys get the win last night yet the vibe in the locker room definitely seemed frustrated with the performance. Is that a sign of the elevated expectations for this year? Yeah. I mean, I think it’s just like it’s it was a frustrating game to play because we weren’t weren’t moving the puck efficiently. So, like I mean, go do that for two and a half hours and you’re not creating what you want to create. You’re not having any fun in the offensive zone. You’re not you’re not feeling it at all. It’s not It’s like going to bad day at work, you working outside in the rain. That’s what it was like. So, um yeah. Anyway, it’s it is what it is. You know, we looked at it this morning. We talked about it. We talked about some things that we feel like we can do to if if a team checks us hard like that, like what are, you know, what’s our plan to get around it and should be, you know, the adjustment should be made after a few minutes of it, not 60 minutes of it. We’ve had a lot of veterans come through Perez and even Kaglano, Jack Johnson that are like they play far more limited roles than they did maybe 10, 12 years ago. What is it about Brent Burns that gives you the ability on a roster like this to still play him 20 plus? Uh, well, I don’t want to compare him to any of those other guys. I think they’re all, you know, it just depends on your need and and their ability really, you know, like he plays still plays the game the same way as he did when he was younger and he’s still highly effective at it. So, I mean, it’s just, you know, to me it’s a testament to him and his game, his conditioning, his, you know, he just has a lot of tools. Good skater, big physical guy, hard to play against, plays on both sides of the puck, you know, we can contribute in a bunch of different ways, so you use him appropriately. Figgybacking on that, his 1500th game tomorrow night, just I mean, how impressive of a milestone is that? What are your thoughts on on him hitting something like Well, it’s incredibly impressive because like is it seven, eight guys that have ever done it? Yeah, he’s going to be the eighth defenseman, the 24th player. There you go. Eight defenseman never do it. And if you look at the guys on that list, I remember looking at it, glancing at impressive guys. um Hall of Famers and um so I mean it that you know the it’s impressive to hit a thousand you know every game after that’s a bonus I’m sure and now he’s at 1500 and it’s it’s hard to do especially when you like they’re not easy minutes that he plays you know and he’s in he’s an older guy now and he just keeps you know to me the the the the streak he has of games he’s played in a row and And you know, it’s part of the reason why he’s hit 1500. To be able to play the way he does is physically does and and to be able to stay healthy for as long as he has is amazing. What is your expectation to realize especially weighing the fact he’s 25 years old and it’s probably important for him to get game action at least with some regularity. Yeah. Well, that that’s his issue, not mine really to be honest with you. Like you have to earn what you get here, you know. Uh just because you want something or you know that goes for all our guys doesn’t mean you’re going to get it. You have to go and earn it, you know. So my expectation is get them up to speed. I like I mean it looks good out on the ice. We got him for a reason and yeah and then we’ll deploy him and see how he does and you know that will determine how much game action he gets. But he’s been a penalt like I’ll try and use him in the same role as what he’s done for most of his career. He’s killed penalties. He’s a big physical guy. He’s played in the shutdown role. He’s he knows what he is as a player. He’s a defender and an efficient puck mover. And if he can do that then he’ll earn a bunch of ice time. I don’t know. At least from the outside, it it still felt pretty surreal to see Mo on the other side of that playoff series, but now that it’s come and gone, what happened happened? Like, does this year does it almost feel like this is the start of the new reality that he’s Well, yeah. I’d like to say our team’s moved long past that. You know, that’d be like saying, “Well, is Jack Jury and Marty Neesh comfortable here yet? Do they still feel like part of your team?” Like that’s how long Mo’s been gone, right? So, um yeah, I mean it’s just another guy that had played with us and played well for us and won with us and you wish them all the best except when they’re playing us. You know, it’s um but like I’d like to think our guys would be long past that by now. Seems like McKenzie’s workload has ramped up to where I don’t know if he’s a regular at practice now, but um is there hope that maybe like with this road trip next week that he’ll be maybe joining the Yeah, we’ll see. It’s not a guaranteed for the road trip yet, you know, but he’s certainly building to, you know, like now he’s with us all day today. It was a short day though, you know, we’ll see how he responds to that. And um but he’s to the point now where he’s joining the team now. We got to get him as much of that sort of game style action as we can and see how he handles it. You guys don’t have any back to backs until the end of the month, but there is that random one:00 start on Monday. Like, do you have the confidence to use minder if needed or do you just want to ride your guy until Yeah, if needed, you know, but I I don’t see a problem with Wedge playing it either. With the him not getting he play preseason obviously, like could you guys do a conditioning stint potentially? Is that on the table with Blackwood? Yeah, I thought Yeah, it’s I mean it’s potential. Yeah, we have the ability to. Coach, you talked to us in the past about sometimes with playoffs and they don’t go your way that sometimes it’s a struggle for you to kind of watch out the rest. I just wonder the best unless it’s against you guys. Were you able to follow much of the playoffs after you guys? No, no interest. I mean, I’ve since watched some of it, but not what was happening. How long does it take for that wound to heal in him to just be another another guy in the league? Mo, whose wound yours to teams in general? Just haven’t had I mean once you play him in once you play him in um in a playoff series for me like it’s like your business, you know, focused and that’s it, you know, he’s gone, he’s gone. Like for me took me about 10 minutes, you know, not that I don’t like Mo and and and you know, but once like I’m not I’m not dwelling in the past on any of that kind of stuff. Like you have to move forward, move forward quickly, you know. Okay. Thank you. Thanks. I am so sorry.

Jared Bednar Press Conference After Colorado Avalanche Practice Before Game 3 of the NHL Hockey season vs Mikko Rantanen & Dallas Stars

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