ST. LOUIS — Without coach Jared Bednar, Nazem Kadri flies off the handle, past Elon Musk and straight into orbit.
Without Bednar, the Avalanche’s volatile center melts down in Game 4 the way an ice cream cookie does on an August picnic table.
Only two things stood between an angry mob and Kadri at the Enterprise Center last week: Plexiglass and Bednar. Colorado’s bench found itself surrounded by a forest of Blues fans extending middle fingers of friendship. And those were the nice ones.
And yet, whenever the temperature threatened to boil over, there was Bednar, always in Kadri’s ear, always coaching.