The eighth annual Humboldt Broncos Memorial Golf Tournament takes place on Friday, August 8 through Saturday, August 9. Colorado Avalanche head coach and Yorkton native, Jared Bednar explained who helped inspire the idea.
“This tournament that we're putting on, after the tragedy, I ended up talking with Kelly Chase, who does a lot of charity work both in the U.S.A. and here in Saskatchewan. He said: 'You should find something to do in Humboldt.' Chase and Hayley Wickenheiser were the ones that, whether they remembered or not, were like: 'You're a Humboldt kid and there's people there that want to try and help,'" Bednar recalled on the SportsCage.
“You should try and get something going and raise some money that would do the community good and bring people together. Some of my idols from back when I was a kid watching the Blades, those people were really important to me and helped me make the decision to branch out and try to get into something we could help give back to the Humboldt community and to others across Saskatchewan.
Alongside Bednar two other people help organize the event since the tournament began. That is director of communication and development for Golf Manitoba Brian Munz and Laurie Warford. The love that Bednar has for the Broncos started from a young age when he began his playing career.
“The goal was to follow in the handful of local kids that had made it and played for the Broncos. That was the team that I wanted to play for my whole life, I was able to do that when I was 17. As you grow and continue to develop your goals, change as they should, was able to move on to the Western Hockey League, then you're starting to look like what's next if you want to continue in hockey, what is that going to look like? I started in the ECHL and moved on to the American League for a short stint in the old IHL and that was as high as I could go,” Bednar said.
“I ended up going back to the ECHL at one point and then that's where I retired and started my coaching career. It was either to play for the Broncos or if I could go beyond that, it would go to play for the Saskatoon Blades. I really enjoyed playing for both of those teams and then ended up moving on from there. You follow the road and see where it takes you and try to play at the highest level I possibly could.”
Bednar played for the Broncos in 1989 then later split time with the Saskatoon Blades from 1990 to 1991. He played with many teams in his career and the last one was the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. As a player, his trophy case consisted of two Kelly Cups in the ECHL with the Stingrays, one in 1997 then another in 2001. Later on Bednar's contributions to the ECHL and SJHL were recognized when he was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2020 then the SJHL one in 2022.
When Bednar switched over to coaching in 2002, he would go on to win in three different leagues. The first one was with the Stingrays in the ECHL where they won the Kelly Cup in 2009. The next time Bednar won as a coach in the AHL with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016 capturing the Calder Cup. Eventually Bednar made his way to the NHL when Joe Sakic hired him to lead the Avalanche in 2016 and later Colorado won the Stanley Cup in 2022.
“If you have a guy like Joe talking to you about your game, you're going to listen and take it to heart. I don't think there's any real surprises, what you hear about Joe, the way he is, how humble he is, and how caring he is -- he's a terrific person and a terrific manager,” Bednar explained.
"That's the type of people you want around you, supporting you, encouraging you and giving you a kick in the pants if you need it -- you know it's coming from the right place. He cares about what you're doing, what the team's doing and everyone involved, it's a pleasure to be able to work with them. I didn't know him before I went there and they hired me to do the job. There's times, especially after my first year, many times in between now going into year 10 where I think a lot of other managers or presidents would have made a change in my position -- he trusted me and it paid off in 2022.”
