Jared Bednar praises his team, says they ‘ran into a buzzsaw in Vegas’

The Avalanche's head coach was philosophical after getting swept out of the playoffs by the Golden Knights, crediting Colorado's opponent

BY JAMES MERILATT

May 26, 2026, 10:55 PM Updated: 11:02 pm

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Six days ago, the Colorado Avalanche were the odds on favorite. And for good reason.

They were the Presidents Trophy winner and had rolled through the first two rounds of the playoffs, sweeping the Kings and beating the Wild in five. Up next, they faced a Golden Knights team that finished the regular season with 26 fewer points than the Avs.

Fast forward a week and Colorado is planning summer vacations and making tee times. In an extraordinary turn of events, they were swept by Vegas, a 4-0 shellacking that culminated on Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss that ended the Avalanche’s season well before anyone could imagine.

After the game, the disappointment was palpable. Jared Bednar tried to find words to explain how he felt.

“Losing sucks,” the Avs head coach coach in a postgame press conference. “And losing four straight is worse.”

In addition, getting to the Western Conference Finals make the loss even more painful. Colorado was halfway to hoisting a Stanley Cup for the second time in five years when it all got derailed.

“The further you go, the worse it gets,” Bednar added. “You start training camp, you have lofty goals. You’re putting together a team that you feel like can accomplish those goals. You go through the regular season, which was an incredible regular season, and the belief and hope that you can accomplish those goals grows. You win a round and it keeps building. You win another round and it keeps building.”

And then, it’s gone. In a flash.

“The further you go, the closer you get,” the head continued continued. “Losing swipes it all away in an instant. It’s hard to deal with.”

That said, Bednar didn’t want the loss to diminish what the Avalanche accomplished this season. A team-record 121 points in the regular season was something he wanted to make sure was appreciated.

“I have a lot of respect for our guys and the season they had,” the head coach added. “It’s not easy to win in this league. It’s not easy through the regular season.”

It gets even tougher in the postseason, however.

“In the playoffs, it can become more and more difficult as you move on,” Bednar continued. “The closer you get, the more hope you have that you can accomplish it. When you don’t, it’s hard to deal with. It takes time.”

Again, thought, the coach wanted to praise his players.

“From day one, our guys gave us everything they’ve got,” Bednar said. “They played hard.”

Unfortunately, they finally met their match.

“We ran into a buzzsaw in Vegas,” the head coach said. “They deserve the credit. They’re a well-oiled machine right now. They’re peaking at the right time. They’re playing at the top of their game.”

Does that excuse a total meltdown, however? Does that take away the sting of watching a record-setting season end in a six-day span?

“It’s a very good team that we lost to,” Bednar added. “We’ll have to regroup, reassess and reflect on our season and this series, and go from there.”