By Ryan S. Clark (The Athletic)

Eight years. This is how long Jared Bednar lived away from his wife and two children to chase a dream of being an NHL head coach, an objective he openly admits he would have not reached without their sacrifices.

Charleston, South Carolina is not the expected setting for a hockey coach’s origin story. But it is for Bednar and his family. He was a career minor-league defenseman who spent chunks of six seasons playing for the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL until he transitioned into coaching.

The five years as an assistant and his two years as a head coach laid the foundation for Bednar wanting to become an NHL head coach. Doing that meant moving. It was something he did as the son of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer throughout his youth. But he wanted his children to primarily live in one place.

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