Tortorella Defends Bednar: ‘One Hell of a Coach’

John Tortorella just swept Jared Bednar out of the Western Conference Final.

Then he went to bat for him.

Hours after the Vegas Golden Knights closed out the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in Game 4 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night, Tortorella stepped to the podium and used part of his postgame session to publicly stand up for the coach he just beat.

“I know people are crawling up Bedsy’s ass about this, that and the other, but he is one hell of a coach. He has a great staff there. I was very nervous, we knew how we had to play because of how potent they are. Great organization, great team.”

Watch the video of Tortorella’s defense via DNVR Sports:

That’s a heat shield from one of the most respected voices in hockey, dropped on the same night the noise around Bednar started getting loud. Colorado finished the regular season with 121 points and the Presidents’ Trophy. Their offense led the NHL all year, then it scored seven goals across four games against Vegas.

The two coaches go back. We laid out the history a couple of weeks ago: Tortorella ran the Columbus Blue Jackets while Bednar was building his coaching reputation with the team’s AHL affiliate before getting his shot in Colorado. Whatever the two of them said to each other in the handshake line probably had some weight behind it.

Bednar didn’t make Tuesday any easier on himself. Asked about the series in his own postgame, he reached for analytics.

“Sometimes I think we did a good job. Like I said before, you’re looking at this series going into this final game — the analytics are tight, they’re close in all aspects.”

The numbers weren’t going to win him many fans on a night his team scored once. Bednar’s contract is up, and Joe Sakic has a call to make on the second-longest-tenured bench boss in the league.

Vegas gets close to a full week of rest before the Stanley Cup Final and waits on the winner of the Eastern Final.