Today the Blue Jackets announced that Monsters Head Coach Jared Bednar has had his contract extended for another two seasons. He will remain with the organization until at least the 2018-19 season. Bednar has been great in his time with the Blue Jackets organization and looks like one of the better up and coming coaches in hockey.

Bednar has been coaching since 2002-03 when he was the Assistant Coach of the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. He held that position for five seasons before being promoted to Head Coach. As a Head Coach Bednar was highly successful. That first season with the Stingrays he led them to the Conference Finals and in his second season with the club he led them to the Finals where they won the Kelly Cup.

After that successful season Bednar made the jump to the AHL where he joined the Abbotsford Heat as an Assistant Coach. That only lasted for a season as Bednar became the Head Coach of the Peoria Rivermen. He spent two seasons with the Rivermen and didn’t have much success. He made the playoffs his first season but lost in the first round. His second season he failed to make the playoffs.

From there he became the Assistant Coach of the Springfield Falcons, a position he held for two seasons. He was promoted to Head Coach of the Falcons in 2014-15 and stayed with the team as they were relocated to Lake Erie this past season. In his first season as Head Coach of the Blue Jackets affiliate the team struggled. The Falcons finished third in their division and failed to make the playoffs. This season though Bednar was back to his winning ways. The Monsters finished second in the Central Division and then dominated the playoffs on route to winning the Calder Cup.

Bednar has been a Head Coach for six seasons. Four of those seasons his teams have made the playoffs and twice he has won the League Championship. He’s a strong coach, that resume speaks for itself. The Blue Jackets have a good one on their hands, hopefully it won’t be long before he makes the jump to the NHL.

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