Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard made an important personal decision on Friday. Girard entered the NHL's player assistance program seeking help for alcohol abuse. It's an incredibly powerful decision on his part, and thankfully, he has a support system around him within the Colorado organization.

The Avalanche played a game Friday night, defeating the Minnesota Wild 3-2. After the game, head coach Jared Bednar fielded questions from the media. And he took the opportunity to publicly show support for his defenseman's decision.

“We're with him. We completely support what he's going through and his decision to go into the program and get help,” Bednar said, via The Athletic's Michael Russo. “We miss him and we're really excited to get him back at some point.”

Bednar commended Girard's decision given the circumstances. The 25-year-old is an NHL player. He is an athlete, which inherently brings parts of his life to the public eye. “It's not as personalized, it's not just you and your family. Everyone kind of finds out about it so it takes more courage,” the Avalanche's head coach said, via Russo.

Girard, a Quebec native, was a second-round pick of the Nashville Predators in the 2016 NHL Draft. In 2017, the Avalanche acquired him in a three-team trade with the Predators and Ottawa Senators. He won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022 and is coming off a career year offensively in 2022-23.

Overall, it is clear that Colorado is fully behind Girard as he receives the help he needs. And they cannot wait for the day that he is in the right mental state to return to the game of hockey. “We don't exactly know when that's going to be but we'll be in support,” Bednar said, via Russo.