The reality is simple: the Colorado Avalanche are trailing 2-0 in their Western Conference Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, and Cale Makar has missed both games due to injury.
However, Makar, the Avs, and head coach Jared Bednar have more complicated interpretations.
When will Makar return? How has his absence affected the series?
Those are harder to answer, but on Friday night, following the Game 2 defeat, Bednar chose to bizarrely put pressure on Makar.
“It’s gonna be Cale’s decision on whether he returns,” Bednar told journalists. He does everything. I do not make that decision for him. ”
The connotation here is really strange. Essentially, it reads as if Bednar is implying that Makar is the sole one who has chosen not to be on the ice.
You’d believe that a training staff is constantly evaluating Makar and providing advice on his physical fitness to play, but the remark does not indicate that.
Bednar most likely wants those comments back. If he intended it that way, it was quite daring to say. And if he didn’t mean it that way, it makes Makar appear bad even if he didn’t plan for such a result.
Regardless of the quote, the reality is that the Avalanche are a weaker team without Makar. They were a force this season and the Western Conference’s frontrunner to win the Stanley Cup. Now, they have dropped two straight games at home to start the series and must go play a few in Las Vegas to attempt to recover.
The easiest method for the Avalanche to rebound is to get Makar back on the ice. And, at least according to Bednar, it is entirely up to the defender.
