from Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post,

Burnt like toast and thrown under the bus by his coach, how do the Avs ever trust goalie Darcy Kuemper again? This is a choice Jared Bednar cannot get wrong, unless Colorado wants to blow its best chance to win the Stanley Cup since 2001.

After an embarrassing 6-2 loss to Tampa Bay, Bednar stubbornly refused to admit what we’ve long known: Kuemper doesn’t have what it takes to be a championship goalie.

“He didn’t have a good night, you know?” Bednar said Monday. “Neither did our team. We win as a team, lose as a team.”

So why be wishy-washy now, Mr. Bednar?

In the aftermath of a defeat that not only gave life to the two-time defending champs, but allowed Tampa Bay to cut its deficit in this best-of-seven series to 2-1, Bednar played it coy, refusing to either give Kuemper a vote of confidence or declare Pavel Francouz is between the pipes until further notice.

Sorry, but that’s a lousy excuse for leadership.

continued

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 06/21/22 at 09:34 AM ET

No goalie issue. This is their guy, traded a 1st rounder+ for him.

Posted by ilovehomers on 06/21/22 at 09:45 AM ET

Sorry, but that’s a lousy excuse for leadership.

Yeah, the coach not throwing the goalie under the bus immediately after the game is lousy, right?

This is just embarrassing reporting.

Posted by GMoney on 06/21/22 at 10:52 AM ET

Mark Kiszla is an absolute embarrassment to sports journalism.

Kuemper had a bad night just like Vasi, but even TBL writers knew they would stick with Vasi in net for Game Three because that’s just hockey.

Posted by SYF from impossible and oddly communally possessive sluts on 06/21/22 at 12:13 PM ET

I’d like to know who the culprit was that stole the Tootsie Roll pop out of Mark Kiszlas’s mouth when he was a toddler which caused this life-long attitude.

Posted by exor54 on 06/21/22 at 05:44 PM ET

Lols!

What GM Mark Kiszla obviously needs to do
is upend all league rules, declare a state of emergency, and fix what
that rank amateur Joe Sakic refused to do: spend a #1 pick on one
of the consensus best goalies available.

Oh wait.

This is the Avs so it’s really uniquely important.
Can’t the league let Colorado borrow Igor Shesterkin?
But even he failed to best Vasilevsky over a full series.
GMMK is going to have to pull out all the stops and on an
emergency basis acquire Vasilevsky for the Avs.
Tampa can make do with Brian Elliott.

But wait! It’s come to my attention that Vasilevsky himself lost two consecutive
NHL finals games to this very same Colorado Avs team (minus Vasilevsky).
One was an ugly 7-0 blowout.

Back to square one.

This GM stuff is a tricky business.

Posted by lefty.30 on 06/21/22 at 07:27 PM ET