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Newest Avs players already comfortable with Jared Bednar

Adrian Dater Avatar
July 2, 2018

When one of your newest players calls his new head coach “Bedsy”, you know there’s a built-in familiarity factor already in play.

Matt Calvert is indeed quite familiar with Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, having played for him for the 2012-13 Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, a team in which Bednar served as an assistant under former Avs winger Brad Larsen. In his first conversation with local media Monday a day after signing a three-year, $8.4 million free-agent contract with the Avs, Calvert referred to Bednar in the time-honored hockey nickname tradition, where you just have to add “ie”, ‘y” or “er” at the end of a person’s last name and you’re good to go.

But Calvert, or “Calvy”, wasn’t the only Avs free-agent signee from Sunday who knows something about Bednar.

Meet Ian Cole, who is equally comfortable answering to either “Colesy” or “Cole-r.”

“I played for Bedsy, first-year pro in Peoria,” said Cole, the veteran defenseman who inked a three-year, $12.75 million pact with Colorado. “I was a wide-eyed rookie, trying to learn the transition to the pro game. He was great to me, teaching me how a pro should act and how a pro should play.”

Cole played his first full season as a paid pro with the 2010-11 Peoria Rivermen under Bednar, who was also beginning his first season as a head coach at the AHL level. Now, he will be coaching him again for the 2018-19 Avs, along with Calvert, and both players said all the stuff he’d probably want to hear in their conversations Monday.

I was looking to go somewhere where the team was solid. I want to win, and I can really see that happening. I was able to make a visit and it was a no-brainer,” said Calvert, a 5-11, 190-pound left winger who has 416 games of NHL experience, all with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Calvert is also quite familiar with Avs assistant coach Nolan Pratt. He played under him in the Columbus system, including Springfield, and his wife used to nanny for Pratt’s children.

Asked what kind of player he is, Calvert was succinct:

“Penalty kill is my game,” said Calvert, 28. “I take pride in the penalty kill. I love to score short-handed goals when I get the opportunity. But I love to create offense when I can.”

The Avs had a primary need entering Sunday’s UFA meat market on the PK, which lost the services of veteran Blake Comeau to the Dallas Stars. If you can’t kill penalties in today’s game, you are in for a lot of trouble, and the Avs hope they have found a strong solution to Comeau’s vacancy in the younger, faster Calvert, who has six career shorties to get credit.

Cole is only a year older than Calvert, but actually has played fewer career games than Calvert (405). But he has lots of winning experience, having played on some good St. Louis teams before going to Pittsburgh and playing a regular shift on two Stanley Cup-winning teams.

Why Colorado, for a guy who had other offers and is used to playing on teams that have done some serious winning?

“I think with the success that Colorado had last year, the trajectory I personally see them on is only increasing. There’s a lot to really like about the team situation,” Cole said. 

Cole figures to be one of the few people who can say they know what it’s like to play with two great players who hail from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. He played alongside Sidney Crosby for parts of four seasons in Pittsburgh, and now will play with Cole Harbour’s other famous native, Nathan MacKinnon.

I had the pleasure to meet Nate Dawg a couple times at camps in Halifax. He’s a great guy, a real superstar on the ice,” Cole said. “The best situation is to try and get the puck to (guys like Crosby and MacKinnon) with as much space as they can get. I’ve been accustomed to that.”

Cole is considered a cerebral guy, someone who can hold a conversation on something other than hockey. He was partnered with David Savard in his short time with Columbus, and played alongside Kris Letang often in Pittsburgh. Calvert is considered a total team guy who will lie on the train tracks if it means a win for his team.

Yeah, money was a factor in both players coming to Colorado. To quote the late, great H.L. Mencken, “When somebody says it’s not about the money, it’s about the money.”

But after talking with both of them, even if just on a conference call, I was impressed that they seemed genuine in wanting to be a part of the Avs, that they were more than just mercenaries going to the highest bidder. They did have other suitors, after all.


“It’s nice to be able to choose where you want to live, what kind of situation you’ll be part of,” Cole said.

Other signings

From the Avs’ website Monday:

“The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the team has signed goaltender Joe Cannata and forward Scott Kosmachuk to one-year contracts for the 2018-19 campaign and forward Sheldon Dries to a one-year, entry-level contract.

Cannata, 28, spent most of the 2017-18 season with the Colorado Eagles, where he posted a 21-5-2 record, a 2.22 goals-against average and a league-best .931 save percentage. The Wakefield, Massachussets, native recorded a 2.55 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage in 24 postseason contests to help the Eagles win their second-straight Kelly Cup as ECHL champions.

Cannata also played in five games in 2017-18 for the San Antonio Rampage, where he went 3-0-1 with a 1.84 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.

Selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth round (173rd overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft, Cannata has a 57-41-11 record in 121 career American Hockey League games with the Chicago Wolves, Utica Comets, Hershey Bears and San Antonio. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound netminder owns a career 2.73 goals-against average and .903 save percentage in the AHL.

He played four seasons at Merrimack College from 2008-12, and represented the United States at the 2008 IIHF Under-18 World Championship, helping Team USA to a bronze medal at the tournament.

Kosmachuk, 24, played the 2017-18 campaign with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, ranking second on the team with 42 points (15g, 27a) in 70 games. The Richmond Hill, Ontario, native has collected 134 points (59g, 75a) in 265 career AHL contests with the Wolf Pack, Manitoba Moose and St. John’s IceCaps.

A third-round selection (70th overall) of the Winnipeg Jets at the 2012 NHL Draft, Kosmachuk made his NHL debut on March 8, 2016 vs. Nashville and has played in eight total NHL contests, registering three points (0g, 3a).

Kosmachuk spent four seasons with the Guelph Storm in the Ontario Hockey League from 2010-14, accumulating 246 points (120g, 126a) in 271 career games. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound right wing added 35 points (14g, 21a) in 37 career postseason contests and helped the Storm to the 2013-14 OHL championship. He earned OHL Second All-Star Team honors that season.

Dries, 24, completed his first professional season in 2017-18, notching 30 points (19g, 11a) in 70 regular-season games for the AHL’s Texas Stars. The Macomb Township, Wisconsin, native added 10 points (10g, 0a) in 22 playoff contests for the Western Conference Champions and led all rookies in postseason goals.

Prior to signing with Texas as an undrafted free agent, Dries played four seasons at Western Michigan University, collecting 84 points (44g, 40a) in 148 career outings and serving as the team’s captain for three seasons. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound center earned National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Second All-Star Team honors for his final campaign in 2016-17.

Dries played two full seasons for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League from 2011-13, recording 87 points (41g, 46a) in 116 games and adding nine points (2g, 7a) in 16 USHL postseason appearances.”

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