Avalanche coach Jared Bednar suffers facial fractures after puck hit
Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar will miss the remainder of the regular season after sustaining facial fractures when he was struck by a puck during Saturday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Stanley Cup-winning manager was hit on the right cheek during a 3-2 overtime defeat in Denver and was immediately taken to hospital for a CT scan.
Team officials confirmed on Sunday that the 52-year-old also suffered a corneal abrasion but is expected to make a full recovery without requiring surgery.
The Colorado boss will now not travel with his roster for their upcoming road trip to western Canada.
Assistants step up ahead of play-offs
Nolan Pratt and Dave Hakstol will take charge of the team for their final two regular-season fixtures against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
Hakstol previously assumed duties on the bench for the remainder of the game after the frightening incident occurred with just under 17 minutes remaining.
The injury happened when a puck deflected off the stick of Vegas defenceman Keegan Kolesar and flew rapidly over the boards into the technical area.
“It’s certainly a little unnerving. It’s scary when the pucks are flying in there.”
Avalanche assistant coach Nolan Pratt
“It happens all the time, and unfortunate tonight, so it takes a little second to sort of recalibrate and then get back to it.”
Top seed secured despite defensive injury
Colorado had already safely clinched the top overall seed for the forthcoming postseason earlier in the week after amassing an impressive 115 points.
Their play-off campaign is scheduled to commence next weekend, by which point the franchise hopes their head coach will be able to return to the bench.
However, the Western Conference pacesetters face an additional injury worry regarding their defensive core.
Blue-liner Josh Manson was forced to leave the Vegas match late in the second period with an upper-body issue and is currently undergoing further medical evaluation.
