Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar has guided his team to the playoffs eight seasons in a row.

And in 2022, the Avs hoisted the Stanley Cup with a dominant 16-4 record in the postseason.

But outside of that magical year, the playoffs haven’t treated Bednar and Colorado real kindly. They’ve only made it past the second-round once. The last three seasons they’ve won just a single postseason series against the Winnipeg Jets in 2024.

At Avalanche media day on Wednesday, Bednar was asked about the championship parade and whether or not it feels recent or a distant memory. His answer, with a smile, was pretty clear.

I asked Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar about the last parade being in 2022, how long ago that feels, and the sense of urgency for Colorado to win the Stanley Cup once again. pic.twitter.com/Z3tSJwJc5m

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) September 17, 2025

“Yeah, it feels like a lifetime ago, really. Even the next year when the time you entered the playoffs it felt like a long time ago,” Jared Bednar said.

Since Colorado won the whole thing, the Vegas Golden Knight took the Cup in 2023 and the Florida Panthers each of the last two seasons. It’s a very hard trophy to capture.

“The reality of it is there’s only been two teams that have won since us. And everyone’s fighting for that same prize,” Bednar said. “I think there’s a big sense of urgency.”

No one like to think about jobs being on the line, but if the Avalanche come up short again this year, some tough decisions may come from the franchise on Jared Bednar and / or GM Chris MacFarland.

For the head coach, it’s about carrying the momentum from the 82-game grind into the spring and summer.

“We’ve had really good regular seasons, right? Our record speaks for itself. When you’re having regular seasons like we’ve had you want to make sure that continues into the playoffs and it hasn’t for us the past three seasons,” Bednar said.

Jared Bednar mentioned the sense of urgency one more time, before ultimately saying the Avalanche need to be the best team they can be entering playoff time.

The reality is this season won’t be judged until April, May and hopefully June. Once those months roll around, it’s pretty clear the pressure is on Colorado to make a deep postseason run.