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Avalanche hire Bednar to replace Roy as coach

Joe Sakic had to rush his coaching search after the abrupt resignation of Patrick Roy. He doesn’t believe the Colorado Avalanche rushed their hire.

After interviewing candidates with varying degrees of NHL coaching experience, Sakic ultimately chose Jared Bednar as the team’s new coach. Bednar spent the past 14 seasons as a minor league coach, most recently winning the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup with the Lake Erie Monsters, and the previous nine as a minor league player,.

“We knew we were in a rush situation, but I wanted to do what I thought was the best thing for the franchise,” Sakic said on a conference call Thursday. “I look at the track record and I place a lot of value in winning championships. I know Jared’s won in the (ECHL) and he just won a Calder Cup. It’s tough to win in any league and to able to win you’ve got to be doing something right.”