We all saw what looked like a moment of confrontation Wednesday night, between Nathan MacKinnon and Jared Bednar, on the Avalanche bench with about eight seconds left in a 5-3 loss to the Calgary Flames.
Sportsnet hockey analyst Kelly Hrudey said he thought MacKinnon said “just do your job” to his coach. MacKinnon slammed his water bottle against the bench, then, in a moment of unintentional comedy, fell backward off his seat and had to be pulled back up by teammate Gabe Landeskog. Bednar, for his part, appeared to grimace after being yelled at by MacKinnon.
It’s all right here in this clip:
There was no traveling Denver media at the game last night. Sign of the times. I’ll be at the final three games of the Avs road trip, starting with Saturday’s game in Montreal. I’ll be at their practice Friday in Montreal. The Avs have an off day Thursday. So, nobody appears to have asked MacKinnon or Bednar about this yet.
My take on this? While my inclination is to say this isn’t a big deal, that it was just a heated moment at the end of another frustrating loss and blew over quickly, we don’t quite know for sure just yet. A player getting into it with a coach on the bench is very rare in hockey. Hockey people are very well trained in keeping any possible internal strife away from the cameras.
So, while I think this is probably nothing, it could be something. Most likely, both parties are likely to say something like “Hey, sometimes families have little arguments from time to time, but there’s no problem here.”
But could this linger? Could a rift develop between the team’s best player and the coach? Is there a rift already? MacKinnon does NOT take losing well, and what you saw on the bench is something we media people have seen in a variation of form in the dressing room after losses. He can slam stuff around and isn’t exactly chatty with the press after a loss. Which is fine. But yelling at a coach on the bench is a different matter.
Guess we’ll have to wait and see on all this. Obviously, there’s a lot of frustration right now around the team. The Avs have lost eight of their last nine games and are perilously close to falling out of the Western Conference playoff picture. The biggest problem of late has been the goaltending, which, to be kind, has been brutal.
Right now, all anybody wants is a victory. But the road isn’t going to get any easier, with road games in Montreal and Toronto, before the trip finishes against last-place Ottawa.
We’ll see what develops, starting with that Friday practice in Montreal.
0 Comments (15 conversations)
i2strange97
MacKinnon to Toronto for Patrick Marleau and a 2nd. Aves may have to add a little.
rb9cms
There’s funny and then there is stupid. We’lll let ‘the fellas’ decide about your comment.
Wristerjay
I think you missed the fact it was a joke. It seems to be a call back to the old “Bozak and a 2nd” Toronto offer with a nice “Aves” insteads of Avs for added fun.
Unit5
Also consider the source. Strange is the most erudite commenter here.
Sean
bozak and a 2nd.
ahinton54
That’s the worst comment I have ever seen on these threads.
faydout
It’s a long time inside joke from an old Avs fan board, except it started as Stastny. It’s good for a chuckle if you know the context.
Avaholics Anonymous
AND a 2nd. Hmmm not sure. Fivefingers, we need your input here
KCRybek
Let’s get coach Q in here so we can watch him switch and break up the top line 5 times per game
xdikkx
Two things:
1 – Bednar’s suit is sick.
2 – Tensions are running high and the only thing that will cure that is winning.
ThePhotoGorilla
Not the first time, either. I tweeted about words occurring between them on the bench in a game back in Nov or Dec. Also asked about the same incident here in one of the articles. In practice Monday, Beds passed a puck to Mac’s feet to start a pp exercise and Mac threw a hand out toward Beds in the manner of “WTF?”. Even if a rift isn’t actually forming, and this is nothing more than Mac being upset at the state of the team, it bears some scrutiny.
John
What’s problematic for me is what this may mean about accountability in the room. The top line can only outscore an empty net so many times this year. Telling Mackinnon to “do your job” despite remarkable production even during the slide is a bad look. He and probably many others are frustrated with these goalies and justifiably so. He can’t carry the offense and play goaltender Jared. Two other guys in the room need to show up for work.
Wesley
Guys…remember, this isn’t like the typical internet comments section. We don’t really get trolls or fans of other teams, that’s why it’s generally happy and friendly. Just remember, we’re not on the internet, we’re on BSN
DP10
I would be more concerned if MacKinnon wasn’t frustrated at this point. The Avs are generally playing better than their results would indicate, but they just can’t get seem to get results. They are basically experiencing the opposite of 13/14 season (when they were inexplicably winning games), and that just has to be the worst feeling. The Avs need to stop getting themselves into these holes of 2 or 3 goal deficits. They need to stop chasing games and instead start controlling them by taking the lead. The second line needs to be more threatening and our goalies need to start playing up to their ability.
Nels
Our goalies need to start playing at all. How is it anyone but the goalies fault? when they gave up the first shot on goal the last 2 games, and something crazy like 3 or 4 out of the first 10 both the last games? The Avs are in a massive GOALTENDING crisis right now and I’d be yelling at Bednar to, for not playing Fracouz in favor of either of the current clowns.
DP10
The frightening thing is that the two of them are in a massive slump at the same time.
twistaction
I also have seen previously that Mac has yelled at Bednar on the bench.
I think Mac has an anger problem. He has also not come out when he has been
one of the stars at home and it looks like a mad scramble for another player
to come out and talk to him.
I honestly wonder if Mac is a bit of a Richard. I love him as a player. My
question is would you really see Sakic, Forberg, Hejduk, Foote, etc. do anything
like that?
bwheeler
Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, and Foote never had to do this because all they ever did was win. MacKinnon, so far in his career, is a loser. He is a damn good player, but also a loser.
graham39
Sakic finished dead last in his first 3 NHL seasons, and second to last his 4th. Mackinnon has made the playoffs 2 out of his first 4 seasons. Calm down on calling Mac a ‘loser’
Nels
Get out of here with that shit bwheeler
bwheeler
First of all, I mentioned Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, and Foote. Not just Sakic. Can’t call my stuff bullshit when Haefele has said the same thing I said in numerous podcasts.
Mapletreemarty
You’re kidding right? These guys also had Patrick freaking Roy in net, a hall of famer when they were all together on the same team. This is a stretch.
jpwheels
Love the competitive fire…don’t care for the exchange happening on the bench during a game and get caught by the cameras.
Look, everyone has been/is frustrated. That has even shown up in some of Bednar’s post-game pressers lately.
I have no issues with coaches and players being testy with each other as long as it gets sorted out in the end and there’s no lingering animosity. But when something like this gets in the public eye, those involved will have to answer questions on it, which just adds a bit more pressure to an already tense group.
In a recent podcast, AJ said he thinks MacK gets special treatment because of the importance he has to the success of the team — as in no one wants to upset #29 (I’m paraphrasing).
I can see that, but it doesn’t just apply to MacK. All we need to do is think of how many times Z has been sat after a bad game, yet Barrie continues to play after having a disastrous game. Yeah, I know Barrie can bring more offense than Z can. And I realize that different players have different buttons that need to be pushed to get them to pull their head out of their ass. But anyone getting deferential treatment can lead to hard feelings for other guys too.
Ultimately, I think giving special treatment to anyone is a disservice to both the player and the team.
At the end of the day, I think this was a crime of passion.
And I’m sure Bednar and MacK will sort it out like adults and move on.
Nels
Someone needs to yell at Grub and Varly to “do their job”.
Eidolon
I wonder if MacK had waited until he went to the locker room and then threw an iPad or something through a TV due to his frustration, would we chastise him? Side with the coach? Wonder about his anger issues?
GaZZALANCHe
The anger and outburst isn’t the issue, it’s how publicly it was displayed. For it to bubble over on the bench is where I think the concern is is my guess… Probably is nothing, just odd for someone such as Mack to do so in plain view
Avs425
Mack and Bends not getting along. BSN Avs fans arguing with each other in the comments. our pets heads are falling off. and now after the last two games, I’m out of Rum. Frustrating times indeed. I wouldn’t worry too much about this, Gabe the Babe will have them sort it out. I’m more concerned about who plays net next game than this.
Rich
This happens especially when a team is not playing well and going through tough times. I don’t this is a big deal. Once the Avs start to constantly win this situation will be a mute point…
Pucklehead
Coincidence that the losing streak has occurred when Big Z is out?
bwheeler
No coincidence. He is the best shot-suppressing defenseman the Avs have.
Cerveau
Insanity is trying the same unsuccessful thing over and over and hoping it works.
We seem to be getting consistently poor results from both Varly and Gruby.
I wonder how many more losses due to poor goaltending we’ll have to suffer before Bednar at least tries Francouz.
If both Varly and Gruby are having slumps at the same time, then the problem is not just the goalies, it’s the coaching.