Nate said that to Bednar, not the other way around.
I didn't have sound when I watched it initially. Ok, it makes me feel a bit better. I definitely want the Avs to take out their frustrations on the habs on Saturday night.
To get Q you need to pay him more than he is being paid to sit at home, which is a cool 6mil. Even if you get him that, there's a question of what kind of situation is he looking for? Something where the team still has some growing pains to do before making the jump to contender status (aka Avs) or a ready-made contender? Poile isn't afraid to make moves and if Lavi bombs in the POs he could be gone, same for Maurice in Winnipeg, DeBoer in San Jose as well. IMHO if he wants to win right away we have no hope in hell even if we offer 10mil.
For the longest time, it seemed like Pierre Lacroix didn't necessarily believe that having a top notch coach was necessary since he had so much success early on with a rookie like Crawford. I think that line of thinking cost us 1 possibly 2 Stanley Cups. (tony g
)
I think the difference this time around, is that Joe Sakic lived through it and I think he knows.
Hiring Bednar was the right choice at the time 2.5 years ago and they saved a ton of $$$ with his hire during that stretch but I believe he's taken us to the limit that he's going to take us. He's done a good job for his first NHL gig and will likely find another job and he'll improve with time as well.
Within the next 1.5 years, we are going to need to take the next step with this group, I think everyone agrees on that and they will need to get on board by paying the going rate for a top coach. That's just the way it goes. Could they get lucky with another rookie HC?? Maybe...but to me this group needs a guy like Q. These guys aren't available very often. From what I heard, he's spending his off-time skiing in Colorado since being fired by Chicago...I don't think it's that big of a stretch for him to come back to the Avs. He would elevate this team in a big way, in my opinion and we're all set to improve this team through the draft and in free agency with a ton of cap space this coming off-season. It would be a great fit and a phenomenal situation for him to close out his hall of fame career, imo.