Career
Bednar played junior hockey with the WHL"s Saskatoon Blades, Spokane Chiefs, Medicine Hat Tigers, and Prince Albert Raiders, from 1990 to 1993, playing in 152 games with 520 combined penalty minutes, establishing himself as a physical player. After going undrafted by the National Hockey League, Bednar made his professional debut during the 1993-1994 season, with the Huntington Blizzard of the ECHL. He played three seasons with the team, posting a career high in points during the 1994-1995 season, with 45 in 64 games. Bednar joined the South Carolina Stingrays halfway through the 1995-1996 season, posting 24 points and 126 penalty minutes in his first 39 games.
From 1995 to 1998, he played mostly with the Stingrays, with small stints in the AHL with the Saint John"s Maple Leafs and Rochester Americans.
He played the 1998-1999 season with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the IHL, racking up 21 points and 220 PIMS in 71 games with the Griffins. Bednar re-joined the Stingrays for the 1999-1900 season, and played two more seasons with the Rays afterwards before announcing his retirement after the 2001-2002 season.
After retiring as a player, Bednar became the assistant coach of the Stingrays from 2002 to 2007. After head coach Jason Fitzsimmons stepped down, Bednar was promoted and became the new head coach for the 2007-2008 season.
His first season as coach was extremely successful, with the Stingrays winning 47 games in the regular season, and making it to the American Conference Finals in the playoffs.
After winning the Cup, Bednar stepped down as head coach of the Rays and became the assistant coach of the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL for the 2009-2010 season. He was the head coach of the AHL"s Peoria Rivermen from 2010 through 2012. The Columbus Blue Jackets hired Bednar as an assistant coach for their minor league affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, beginning with the 2012-2013 season.
After serving in this role for 2 seasons, he was promoted to the head coaching role, following the promotion of Brad Larsen to Columbus" staff
Foreign the 2015-2016 season, Columbus will shift their AHL affiliate to the Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland. Bednar will also follow the team to Cleveland and continue as head coach.