Avs head coach Bednar says he’s not going to tell MacKinnon he can’t fight
Despite an injury scare that could have derailed Colorado's chase for the Stanley Cup, Jared Bednar won't tell Nathan MacKinnon to avoid fisticuffs
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There’s been a lot of discussion around Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon fighting Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild.
The majority of it has been sparked because there was initial fear that MacKinnon may have seriously hurt his hand and be out for a significant period of time. That turned out not to be the case, as MacKinnon was skating yesterday at the team’s “practice facility” and appeared to be fine.
Head coach Jared Bednar announced this morning Mackinnon will be back on the ice tonight against the Sharks after missing just one game, a 2-1 win against the Flames.
Avs superstar Nathan MacKinnon will return to the lineup tonight against the Sharks, per head coach Jared Bednar. MacKinnon ended up missing just one game and X-rays were negative. pic.twitter.com/yB9RCZz0m2
— Denver's Sports Station 104.3 The Fan (@1043TheFan) March 31, 2022
The most interesting part of the morning, however, was when Bednar was asked if he was okay with MacKinnon fighting, a role usually reserved for specific guys on the team. His answer had a lot of layers.
“Would I like him to make a different decision in the moment? Sure,” Bednar said of MacKinnon dropping the gloves. “I wish he wouldn’t have fought, but the game has to be played with passion and physicality. If you don’t play with passion and physicality you’re going to come up with more injuries than if you do play it that way. It’s hockey, it’s a physical sport. It’d be like telling a linebacker in football ‘hey, we’re almost in the playoffs, so make sure you don’t hit anybody hard you might hurt your shoulder.’ It’s not going to happen.”
So yes, Bednar doesn’t want MacKinnon to fight, but also isn’t going to stop him. Bednar may be the “boss” by title, but Mackinnon is clearly more important to the success of the Avalanche. The head coach isn’t going to tell his superstar player what he can and can’t do, even if he doesn’t love it.
Regardless, the Avs dodged a bullet with MacKinnon missing just one game after it was feared the injury could have been serious. We’ll see if he drops the gloves again in any of the team’s 15 remaining regular season games.
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