Jared Bednar & Avs on Gavin Brindley 2yr EXTENSION & Big Game vs Ducks

Jared Bednar & Avs on Gavin Brindley 2yr EXTENSION & Big Game vs Ducks

guys wants to lead us off. Coach, you the news just came out that he’s signed Brinley to two years. What I mean, obviously, he’s been playing phenomenally, so just a little bit on that. Yeah, he’s I mean, he’s been great. I mean, he’s a young guy. He’s still developing his game, but I mean, we’ve seen nothing but good from him, you know what I mean? like he’s he was great in training camp and he’s was good in exhibition and he’s been really good for us in regular season too and um he does a little bit of everything. Has great skill, a great motor. He’s relentless, fits the ABS identity. I think it’s a great signing and super happy to have him locked up for another couple years. I think the sky’s is the limit for him. You talked about, you know, last week that maybe you were missing some guys still, you know, that were out with injury that you could use in overtime. Gavin Brinley provides something that maybe some of those guys that are out, you know, is that something that he gave you guys a spark of in overtime? Yeah, for all the reasons that I just said. That’s kind of why I used him. You know, like he’s a great skater. He’s hard on pucks. He’s responsible defensive guy, but he’s also has a lot of skill, great hands, great shot, all those things. and and you see it the other night and yeah just you know getting guys comfortable making sure they understand it and I think we have a bunch of players that can play in overtime. I think some of the players we’ve used can be better than they’ve been in overtime and have been in past. So um yeah just you know but the more options you have the better off you are. You know, if someone’s having a tough night, you can go to somebody else and in different situations, you can use different guys. And we really like OC’s speed obviously on it and Valance. Why we use a lot of those guys because speed can create you scoring chances in overtime if you’re defending the right way. Uh Wedgewood going, pardon me, Wedgwood. Wedgewood. Yes. You saw both goalenders deployed in England this past weekend. What did you think of Mackenzie Blackwood’s second per? I thought he was good. Yeah, that was a tough game to play. They they made it hard on us at our net front. Like they put a lot of pucks there and a lot of traffic there. It was a lot of mad scrambles. Um but that was I also think that’s good for McKenzie. You know, it was a little bit different in San Jose. Um you know, bigger gaps between scoring chances against and less shots and that was a busy game for him. So, I think still working through knocking some rust off of his game and getting back in like a busy game like that to kind of remind him what what it’s going to look like is good and the practice time’s good. So, we’re at home here for a little bit. We’ll get some good practice in. So, pretty happy with the growth from his game one to game two. J, has the consistency of your lines lately, has that been the catalyst for momentum, all the good things that happen to you guys right now? Uh, yeah. Yeah, I mean I think all year they’ve been pretty good. You know, pretty consistent. We haven’t had a lot of passengers on any given night. You know, some nights some guys play better than others, but we’re it’s where our depth comes in and um we saw that in the Edmonton game like everybody firing on all cylinders and we’re able to have a good offensive night. Um you know, we looked like we lacked some jump in the Vancouver game and some pop. It was a late night with both teams played back to back, but I thought they outskated us for a good part of that night. Um, so we ended up kind of mixing up our lines a little bit in that game and you know, again, it’s just a luxury that we have. If we have some guys going, we can give them a little bit more ice time. If we have some guys not, then we can shrink their ice time a little bit. And, you know, we end up pulling out a big win in Vancouver. So, but everyone’s been pretty consistent to this point in the season, which is why our record is where it is. Sorry if I missed this, but what to you is the ceiling for a player like that in Well, he’s I think he can be a top six forward in this league. Yeah, he, you know, like he plays bigger than his size. The the the motor, the relentlessness, the skill level, and the brain to go with it is all there. So, I think it’s I think it’s really high he’s being used in that role because there’s guys I trust hire in the lineup, guys that I want to be part of it and that have have played those roles before and they’re doing a great job. But on, you know, like for example, the Vancouver game, he goes with Nate in the third period. Um, almost sends him in on a twoon-one, then Nate’s line scores. he’s part of that and he’s out in overtime and and then he scores himself. I think that’s repeatable from him, you know. Um so we’ll keep trying to move him up when he’s really going or when other guys are struggling because and if not then he just makes our team deeper and more dangerous offensively while he’s playing in the bottom six. How did you see him respond to the trade and coming over as a young player, new organization, all that? Great. optimistic from day one, exceptional work ethic from day one. And not just that, like it’s I don’t know how much, you know, he was penalty killing before. Um certainly was on every power play on every team that he ever played on. Um started not on our power play, started penalty killing through exhibition and early in the year. You know, we still have Kivy Rent and OC out who have done that for us and he’s been good. He’s taken a little smaller role in the penalty kill here lately, but now he’s on the second power play. He’s a well-rounded player and he’s willing to learn and like, you know, add to his tool box to be able to get more minutes. This uh Ducks team is really rolling right now. What have you seen from them? Just what you’ve been able dangerous offensive team and and even if it’s not in the number of chances they’re getting, they are finishing everything off. They get a chance in the back of the net. So really good work ethic playing with at a high pace, deep roster, a lot of young kids that are coming into their own. Um, highly talented. They’ve been good on both sides of it, both defensively and offensively, but like especially at finishing off their chances. They’re they’ve been really good, the top offense in the National Hockey League. Is this a team like you saw last year that you were thinking this could be a problem in a year or two? Like seeing 100%. Yeah, last you. Go ahead, Jesse. We talk all the time about process over the results at this point in the season. You guys are up 9 to1 against Edmonton with 60 seconds left. You guys are the ones pushing the the pace with with an eight goal lead. Is that an example of details process and and just building the right habits. Doesn’t matter what the score is, what time of year it is. I think it’s important. It’s part of the message that we’re sending, I think, and the guys who bought into that early in the year. Um, hey, like we feel good about our offensive game. We do. We, you know, like on most nights, we’re creating plenty of chances to win the game. The difference for me and where our record is now is because of the commitment on the other side of it. It’s happened earlier. The guys are they’re more bought into it. They understand what it’s going to look like later in the year, and why not get to it right away and sort of build those habits. So, it’s a it’s a commitment. It’s a responsibility of our group at at this point that’s been really good. It’s not always perfect, but I like the conscience that we’re playing with. And again, doesn’t rem doesn’t matter time or score. Like we we still want everyone to do the right things and and we did that. We had some breakdowns against Edmonton. No question. Um but I think you you know when you get in tight games, it starts to show. Like I didn’t love our first period or second period in Van. Like I said, I think we got outskated for part of that, but I thought our first or third period was our best period. Um, and we end up, you know, getting a win out of that. So, we’ll take it and move on and try to improve for tonight, which will be a tough game. Really good team coming back off the road. Not a lot of rest here for us recently again. That’s why we went optional this morning. Try to put our guys in the best situation to have success tonight. Yeah, they finished with LC and Sam Gerard out before morning skate today. Uh Sam Gerard in a full contact jersey. Is there any update on when we might see him? Yeah, he’s getting really close. So, it’ll be on this home stand he’ll play. Yeah. And OC’s still working through some things to try and get back. I’m hoping he’s getting close, too, but he won’t be as early as G. Okay. Thank you. Thanks. Initial reaction, response hearing that news. Yeah, obviously excited to be a part of this group and um some pretty elite players in here and a lot of very good guys. So, we’ve had a lot of fun so far and hopefully we can keep it going. What are you most proud of and what you’ve done through these games to start the season here with Colorado? Yeah, I think just coming off last year, not the best year uh for myself and um just getting back to my game and getting back to I know what works and um it’s been good so far. So, um excited uh very fortunate and um pumped to keep her going. How has your game changed since you went to the A? I don’t know if it’s changed much. I think just the hard work aspect of it. I think just honing in on that and um it’s easy when guys like Kell and Bar are playing really well too. So, um it’s been a lot of fun and uh yeah, not not much else to say about it, but it’s been good. When it comes to your linemates too, building as much chemistry as you have with them, what have you learned from them playing through 16 games so far? Yeah, a lot. I think uh they’re both very aware of what’s going on on the ice and um we don’t have much room for error and uh it’s been it’s been fun communicating with these guys and having a lot of fun on the ice and I feel like that’s the most important thing is is having fun what you’re doing and um just taking it day by day. So it’s been good. You mentioned last year and kind of it being a tough year. Was there any moment during the season where you kind of looked at yourself, looked in the mirror any turning point that led you to this point in the extension? Yeah, I think just honestly going back home for the summer and just getting back to work. I think that was the biggest thing for me is just being home and being back with my buddies and um kind of just taking a break from hockey to be honest and kind of getting away from it and um yeah, it was great great summer and um good to get a fresh start somewhere else and um it’s been great so far here. I I’ve loved it. What did you do this summer or in the summer specifically? I don’t think much changed to be honest. I think just just being at home, being in Florida, being I I love it. I love being there. I love being with my buddies and um love skating with those guys and I think uh it helps all of us get better. So, um I think it’s been great and keep it going. What excites you the most about signing with this group? I think the possibility win obviously. I think every year we have a really good chance to to make a deep run and um it’s been great to learn from these guys and it’s uh it’s pretty exciting. Any you uh score a game win or overtime goal and you get this contract? Yeah, I don’t know. Pretty funny how that works, but um yeah, very fortunate. Uh happy that they believed in me and um excited. Very excited. Exactly. A fourth line player in college and junior miners, I should say. Uh how have you adjusted to that so well? Yeah, I think it’s something that I could do and um I feel like it’s something that I’ve shown in past tournaments and stuff like that when they need me to do it. And um I think it’s been great. I think it’s good to learn that part of your game and learn kind of that grindy aspect of it and try to make an impact every time you get on the ice. So, um it’s been good and uh very fun so far and um excited. Did you have a pinch me moment today? Like you saying overtime winner a couple nights ago to your contract extension today. Did you have a a moment this morning where you had to kind of stop and catch a breath? No, I don’t know. Um last night was good. Uh ordered some food and just kind of hung out and um big game tonight. Uh excited to play this team. Got a couple buddies over there and um that’ll be fun. and they’re a fun, exciting group and um I think this should be a good test for us tonight. Take us back to the trade and I mean what was your reaction to that? Did you see it as a fresh start? Like what what did you think when you came over here? Yeah, honestly I didn’t really know what to think. I wasn’t really thinking about that in in that time and place when it happened and um I don’t know a lot of lot of different emotions. I feel like positives and negatives getting traded that young and um kind of going through it. But I feel like it’s good to good to go through it early and kind of experience that and experience the downs of last year and um just learn from it and and get better and grow. When did this become a possibility? When did you know the GM reach out to you and kind of focus on there? Uh I think it was sometime last week or two weeks ago or something like that. So yeah, everyone’s talked about your work ethic. I mean, from training camp till now, is that something you pride yourself on? Yeah, absolutely. I feel like that’s kind of the bare minimum that you can do and um especially with the amount of talent and and elite players in this locker room. I feel like that’s pretty important on this team and um trying to figure out where you fit in and um I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job of that so far and um yeah, I feel like it’s it’s pretty important thing. Not a lot of players from Florida. Do you feel accomplished being one of those players from Florida and where you’ve gotten to at such a young age now? Yeah, absolutely. Um, some Canadian blood in me, but uh, yeah, being being from Florida, it’s it’s pretty cool. And obviously non-traditional hockey market and, um, yeah, I think it’s just cool to be a role model for those kids down there and it’s growing like crazy. a lot of a lot of ex players are moving down there and um so it’s pretty pretty cool to have that kind of thing to look up to for for young kids and know that they could do it and um yeah very fortunate to train. Did you feel like they gave up on you? Did that put a chip on your shoulder? Like what did your thought was your thoughts? I think it definitely helps put a chip on my shoulder for sure. Um I think going through something like that that young and kind of experiencing that already is is a positive and also negatives as well like I said. But um yeah, I think it definitely helped with the chip on my shoulder for sure. Thank you so much. Right off the coming off the heels of overtime winner. What can you say about what Gavin’s done to start this season? He got it two years. Two years. Yeah, this morning. I didn’t even see it. Yeah. Yeah. This morning when you guys Yeah. Yeah. Super happy for him. Um wow, that’s awesome. Um he’s deserved it. He came into camp um did really well. Uh made his presence known and um I just think he’s been playing the right way. He’s got great details to his game and um he’s been helping me out too. So, um super skilled with the puck as well. So, he’s been making plays obviously saw him, you know, get onto the top line there and Barry’s learning overtime. So, probably was our best player I’d say throughout the majority of the game and um yeah, super happy for him. He deserves it. Coming into training camp, what stood out to you most about a guy like this? Um I think it’s just compete, work ethic, um commitment to defend, you know, obviously pretty raw coming out of, you know, college and a couple games in the American League and um just his willing willingness to learn um ask questions. Um yeah, he’s done a really good job of just picking it up right away and um you know, fourth line’s kind of a tough game sometimes and I know he’s super skilled and um you want to make plays with the puck and there’s opportunities where sometimes it just needs to be the safe play and I thought he’s been doing a really good job of picking his spots um making plays when he can and being smart with it uh when he doesn’t have plays to make. So that’s kind of the biggest things that’s uh stood out for for him for for me. How has that dynamic between the two of you kind of been working out? I know you and I had talked about working with the younger players and just kind of being versatile with different guys on your line, but you two have found a connection. Yeah. Um, obviously early it’s kind of tough just to get a feel for each other, Marty as well. And um, the more you play, I’m a big believer you keep playing with the same guys, you’ll end up finding chemistry at some point. And um I think it was a New Jersey game. That was kind of our first, you know, really good, everyone was on the same page and it started to click and then obviously Burns goes down and um we get a couple other guys who come up and did great with us on our line and um ever since he’s been back he’s you missed him, you know. So uh he’s a great player. He’s been great for our line and um yeah, I feel super lucky to be able to play with him and like I said, he’s been I’ve been watching him play and it’s been, you know, teaching me myself as well. You know, I can hang on to pucks too and try to make plays just like he does. So, um he’s been great, especially once we get in the offensive zone. Just super skilled and sees the ice very well. Have you gotten to know him well off the ice? Like what’s he like as a person and a friend? Yeah, he’s he’s great. He’s uh actually really funny. Um, not that I don’t think people might not know that, but super funny kid. Um, down to earth as well. So, um, loves to ask questions, just I think he loves the game, too. So, um, been really good to hang out with him, go for a couple dinners, and, um, yeah, get to know him. Has the consistency of these lines in general, has that been the main key for all the momentum that the team in general is on right now? Yeah. Um, I think just consistency with the lines like you said is is nice and you get to be familiar with the faces that have uh, you know, you played with for a couple games and um, like I said, you start to practice with them as well and start to see their tendencies where they like to go on the ice and um, then it translates over to a game and I think we’ve been having really good practices the last, you know, two weeks here and um, connecting on line rushes, really good in Dzone together, getting the puck out and that’s been translating into our game and I’ve really like how we’ve defended and we’ve been getting lucky with some some good offensive zone stuff as well and um Burns has been a really good catalyst for that. When a young guy gets traded like Bren, I mean it can be a little jarring for you in your career. How do you think he’s responded since he got here and just trying to reestablish himself in a new organization? Yeah, I’m sure I I mean I’ve never been traded, but especially to you know coming to a new team I guess. Sorry. um like when I left Ottawa and coming to a new team, still somewhat a young guy pretty early on in my career. I think it’s very daunting coming to a new room and obviously a team like you know the ABS um good culture here. here. Obviously, everyone sees what they’ve done in the past and uh I thought he’s done a really good job of just coming in, picking up what we’ve kind of built here. They’re trying to continue to build and um he’s done a really good job of just coming to work every day, being willing to learn. Um he’s not afraid to speak up too and, you know, shoot it with the boys and, you know, tell tell good stories and stuff. So, yeah, he’s not been shy, which is awesome to see. I think he’s just been himself and I think that’s what what’s making him really good. Thank you

Jared Bednar, Gavin Brindley, & Parker Kelly Press Conference in Colorado Avalanche Locker Room Before Colorado Avalanche play the Anaheim Ducks on National TV

Timestamps:
0:00 – Jared Bednar
8:45 – Gavin Brindley
14:05 – Parker Kelly

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