Avalanche agree to terms with coach Jared Bednar on a 4-year extension through 2030-31

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche agreed to terms with Jared Bednar on a four-year extension Wednesday that keeps the winningest coach in team history on board through the 2030-31 season.

Bednar, who has coach the Avalanche to a 445–262–75 record during his tenure, led the team to a Stanley Cup title in 2022 behind a nucleus that included Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and captain Gabriel Landeskog.

The team gave Bednar a vote of confidence in the offseason after being swept in the Western Conference Final. Bednar said leading into training camp they were in discussions to get a deal completed. It's the second big deal the Avalanche completed over the summer. The team also locked up Makar, a two-time Norris Trophy winner, to the richest deal in league history.

Bednar was hired in August 2016 following the resignation of coach Patrick Roy. The 54-year-old Bednar is currently the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL, trailing only Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“Jared has done an outstanding job over the last decade, and there’s no doubt in my mind he’s the best coach for this group," Joe Sakic, the Avalanche's president of hockey operations/general manager, said in a statement. "He commands the room and has complete confidence of the players. We’re excited to continue to have him in charge, and we believe that his presence maximizes the team’s potential while this core group is intact.”

Bednar brings a sense of calm to the bench, which his players appreciate. The team has been to the playoffs in every season but one under Bednar — his first, in 2016-17, when the team went 22-56-4. He's the 13th head coach (14th occasion) in league history to take the same organization to the postseason in at least nine straight seasons.

His team was the Presidents' Trophy winner last year with a franchise-best 121 points and is expected to be another strong Cup contender this season.

“I look forward to working hard each day this season,” Bednar said, "and beyond to accomplish our goal of winning another Stanley Cup.”

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

FILE - Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, center, draws up a play during a time out in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild, Feb. 26, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Incredible Hulk fulfilled a childhood dream by meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday.

Lou Ferrigno, who starred as the Marvel character during its 1977–1982 U.S. television run, met with the American pope and chatted briefly with him at the end of Leo's general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“I’m here because it’s a lifelong dream for me to meet the pope,” Ferrigno told reporters. Noting that one side of his family hails from the southern Amalfi region, Ferrigno said that he grew up hearing about the pope in a Catholic Italian family and served as an altar boy.

“I’m very, very honored to be here to see Pope Leo, because it’s my whole life, it’s a dream coming true,” he said.

He posed for photographers, mimicking the gesture that made him famous in his onscreen transformation from Bruce Banner into the superhero Hulk — flexing his arm muscles.

Ferrigno, a retired professional bodybuilder, starred as Hulk in the CBS series before going on to other television and film roles. He noted that some had been filmed in Rome, and that he appreciated the pope's message.

“Our world, our country needs someone like him: A great leader about kindness and peace, because there’s so much turmoil happening in this world,” he said.

It's unknown if the former Robert Prevost was a Hulk fan.

By 1977, when the series began, the Chicago-born pope was graduating from Villanova University and entering the Augustinian religious order as a novitiate.

Recently, Leo has acknowledged he and his family were regular watchers of a different television personality: the newly-beatified Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the popular American TV and radio preacher.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

American actor Lou Ferrigno, left, attends Pope Leo XIV's weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)