Not a lot of newsy stuff from Avalanche coach Jared Bednar's formal news conference at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday other than the fact he will retain all of the team's assistant coaches.
Bednar also said there will be "definite changes" in team structure, and that he needs to learn what players are accustomed to doing on the ice so he can teach them how to do things differently.
Nolan Pratt, who was hired in July before Patrick Roy resigned as coach and vice president of hockey operations,, was Bednar's assistant with Lake Erie (now Cleveland) -- Columbus' top affiliate -- last season when the Monsters won the AHL championship, so he wasn't going anywhere.
Bednar spoke by phone and met with Tim Army and Dave Farrish, and said he felt "very comfortable" with them. He'll lean heavily on them to familiarize himself with his new players, along with video coordinator Brett Heimlich, who has been downloading game and player videos to Bednar's personal computer. "I've had some great conversations with them and I feel very comfortable with our staff," Bednar said. "I like the mix of some guys with a lot of experience in the league and with the knowledge they have of our players, as well as Nolan coming in here as a new coach. We've been together a long time and we see it the same way.
"I think the plan that we're going to put in place can help elite defensemen or up-and-comers that are coming into the league. It's all about support and knowing what you're trying to do with the puck before you get there under different sets of circumstances. That clarity and that detail that I'm hoping that we can put in place will help those guys."
The Avalanche have been a poor puck possession team for too long, which Bednar hopes to change as quickly as possible.
"Breaking out of your zone and exiting with possession, that's a five-man job, that's a community job," he said. "That's not one defenseman's job who's going back to get the puck and they're under duress. It's everyone's job to help him out as much as they can, make it a community job.
"That's the mentality that I have. There's some pieces here that I really like. I just think that getting them all on the same page and putting our system in place and having our unit of five and having our whole team committed to that is going to help."
Bednar, 44, signed a three-year contract Aug. 25, two weeks after Roy quit. A defenseman during a nine-season minor-league career, Bednar coached 14 seasons -- six as a head coach and eight as an assistant -- in the AHL and ECHL.
He had a 251-158-42 career record as a head coach and won two league championships, last season with the Monsters and in 2009 with the South Carolina Stingrays.
Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic interviewed Bednar on the recommendation of assistant GM manager Chris MacFarland, who previously had the same position with the Blue Jackets and knows Bednar well.
"He brought his name to the table and I value his opinion, but after the interview process (with several candidates) I went away for a few days to reflect by myself," Sakic said. "I did my own homework, (made) my own phone calls. Jared Bednar is the one I decided on, obviously, with the help of some GMs and some friends that did know him, played against him. I had a lot of input about him and other candidates from a lot of people around the league.
"To a man, everybody said the same thing: he's a very demanding coach, but he's fair with the players as well. They're going to know exactly what he expects and I'm excited to see this team react to his style."
Bednar, who is married and has two school-age children, drove by himself from Cleveland to Denver in his truck, he said, "because I had some stuff I wanted to bring (and) to give me some time to think."
The family will eventually be reunited in Denver, but Bednar has plenty of work to do in a short period of time to get ready for training camp. Rookie camp begins Sept. 15 and the veterans report Sept. 22.
"It's a challenge to some extent," he said. "I think there's a lot of time here with the support staff and with the guidance of Joe and the management team, all the guys that have been around. They're making my job a bit easy right now. There'll be challenges, but the experience of these other guys is going to help me get to know everyone and get us moving on to our structure and how we want to play."
Six Avalanche players are going to compete in the World Cup that runs from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1 in Toronto, another challenge Bednar will face in his first season.
World Cup camps are about to start, and Bednar will be without centers Matt Duchene (Canada), Nathan MacKinnon (North America) and Carl Soderberg (Sweden); left wing Gabriel Landeskog (Sweden); defenseman Erik Johnson (United States), and goalie Semyon Varlamov (Russia).
The Avalanche play their first preseason game Sept. 27 at Minnesota and open regular-season play Oct. 15 against Dallas at home.
“It’s not ideal, but they’re getting a great opportunity to go play meaningful, high-intensity games on a world stage, so that’s a great opportunity for those guys,… Bednar said. "It also gives opportunity to the rest of the guys, to be put in situations where they’re not normally in and we can look at them in different areas.…
Bednar's job is to get the Avalanche back on a winning track after missing the playoffs the past two years.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity and I want to make these guys that hired me proud," he said. "I think we have a great staff, I think we can accomplish great things if we all come together. Who was here before me, I have a lot of respect for Patrick Roy, I watched him playing growing up and I watched him coach. Now it's my turn to try and carry out the tradition here, build on the tradition that this organization has."