Avalanche coach Jared Bednar returns to the bench after taking a puck to the face last weekend

DENVER (AP) — The bruise and redness under his right eye taught Jared Bednar an important lesson: Keep your hands out of your suit pockets while on the bench.

The Colorado Avalanche coach is off the injured list and back with the team for the regular-season finale Thursday against Seattle after taking a puck to the face last weekend. Bednar missed the Avalanche’s two-game trip to undergo further evaluation. He was diagnosed with facial fractures and a corneal abrasion.

“That’s why you’ve got to keep your head on a swivel and your hands out of your pocket,” said Bednar, whose squad has the top record in the NHL this season.

Bednar was standing behind the Colorado bench when the puck flew off the stick of Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar, caromed over the boards and hit Bednar in the right cheek early in the third period. Bednar was helped to the locker room by a trainer.

“I would have had to have been Derek Jeter to not get hit with that one,” Bednar said in reference to the New York Yankees Hall of Fame shortstop. “Whenever you get hit the face or the head, it always stinks.”

Bednar underwent a series of tests and “got good news right away on the scans,” he said. “Then it was just waiting for a couple days to make sure my eye was OK. … It seems to be all good.”

Any chance he will wear a helmet while coaching from behind the bench?

“No,” said Bednar, the winningest coach in franchise history. “It’s just part of the game. There’s a lot of close calls, and when they don’t make contact, you’re like, ‘Oh, that was close.’”

With Bednar away, Avalanche assistant coaches Nolan Pratt and Dave Hakstol helped lead the squad. Colorado went 2-0 on the road swing, beating Edmonton 2-1 in a shootout and then Calgary 3-1. Bednar tuned in to watch.

“It was interesting to listen to the opposing teams’ broadcast talk about our team and talk about their teams as well, which I don’t really get to do very often,” Bednar said.

While Bednar is back, the Avalanche remain without defenseman Josh Manson (upper body) and forward Nazem Kadri (finger). Any concern with the playoffs starting for Colorado on Sunday?

“I expect our whole roster to be options for Game 1 of the playoffs,” Bednar said.

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