from Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet,
When the night began, Jared Bednar was adamant. He was not yet ready to hang up the blades.
But over the course of this hot summer evening in South Carolina in 2002, his friend and former ECHL teammate Jason Fitzsimmons made a pitch that would expedite the process of Bednar becoming one of the brightest minds in the coaching fraternity.
“I had just been named the head coach and director of hockey operations of the South Carolina Stingrays and ownership told me I had to find my own replacement because I had been the assistant,” Fitzsimmons, now a pro scout with the Washington Capitals, says. “I had one guy in mind and it was Jared. That was the only call I made.”
Bednar lived around the corner from Fitzsimmons and was invited over for a chat.
Fitzsimmons shared the good news of his promotion and followed that up with his sales pitch, hoping Bednar would agree to join him behind the bench.
“I asked him about his future and he said he still wanted to play hockey, he wanted to come back and play,” says Fitzsimmons. “I had a different plan. I said it would be great if you joined my coaching staff.”
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