There’s a large house two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean near Charleston, S.C., that five years ago was an empty lot. A little grass, some dirt and scattered trash. It wasn’t a large lot — it easily could have been mistaken as part of the neighbor’s unkept side yard — and it certainly didn’t draw the attention of most passersby.

But Jared Bednar is different. He’s always been. Nothing is ever what it is; it’s what it could be.

He didn’t see a desolate space. He saw a five bedroom, 4 ½ bath home. A hot tub and a pool. Modern architecture to contrast the traditional beach look of every other house on the street. That lot was his future.

And the Colorado Avalanche wasn’t a down-on-its-luck franchise with a coach that abandoned it. Bednar saw a Stanley Cup contender.

“Back when we were coaching together, Jared was flipping houses and taking advantage of the market. I want to say he had a dozen properties at one time (make that more than 24, Bednar said), and I’m not talking Boardwalk. These were rough properties, Baltic and Mediterranean, that he saw potential in,” said Jason Fitzsimmons, a scout for the Washington Capitals. “But as the result, he saw the big picture. And the big picture was to build this house on the beach that he and his wife, Susan, would ultimately retire in.”

Bednar paid $210,000 for that property, records show. Its estimated value today? North of $1.5 million.

As for Bednar’s Avs? They had a league-low 48 points last season, his first on the job. Wednesday they’re trying to even the series against the Nashville Predators in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs’ first round. Regardless of whether they advance to the conference semifinals, the young Avs appear set to make noise in the NHL for years to come with a coach who saw what could be in Denver.

Stingrays’ bond of friendship

When Bednar woke this morning, he had 15 missed text messages – give or take. It doesn’t matter what day you’re reading this, that estimate will remain accurate. On this particular morning, April 18, it’s filled with “Let’s go, Avs!” and chatter about how the Capitals did against Columbus. Yesterday, it was elation over the Avs’ dominance of the Predators in Game 3 and some light roasting of Bednar’s suit choice.

“Jared is not a flashy guy, but at least this season he tried to put some money into his wardrobe. I guess what he’s wearing on the bench this year is a little better,” said Rob Concannon, president of the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays.

The praise between friends is matched only by the heckling in a never-ending group text between Bednar, 46, and his former Stingray teammates from the late 90s: Concannon, Fitzsimmons, Brett Marietti and Dan Fournel, all of whom live a two-hour time difference ahead of Denver in and around Charleston. They try to keep conversation encouraging, but “when you see Jared on TV giving an interview, it’s hard to take him seriously sometimes,” Marietti said. Bednar’s thick northern accent that’s a steady monotone – yet somehow inviting – with the media isn’t the guy they know who throws 50-person pool parties in the summer or the one who was once the most feared defenseman in the ECHL. (Bednar might not have been Ross Rhea, but he could have played in Slapshot.)

That said, there’s nothing phony about him. From the day he was traded from Huntington to South Carolina in 1995, through Fitzsimmons convincing him to give up his skates and transition to coaching in 2002 and now leading a team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bednar’s the same as he’s ever been, just with a bigger paycheck.

Loyal. Focused, but loyal. Perhaps a bit dry, but more notably loyal. Even his cellphone number still carries allegiance to Charleston with an 843 area code.

If one of his teammates was dealt a cheap shot on the ice, Bednar wasn’t going to talk – he would act. When his former D partner Aaron Schneekloth, now the coach of the Colorado Eagles, needed advice on switching to coaching, Bednar invited him out to shadow how he ran things in the AHL. And if there’s a player in his dressing room who doesn’t fit his culture, they won’t have a sweater for long.

“He wants the team to be able to stick up for each other. He wants us to be a tight-knit group of guys who want to play for each other, who want to go into battle with each other, who have each other’s backs,” Avalanche forward Alexander Kerfoot said. “If you look at us, that’s what we are.”

It’s not Bednar’s way or the highway, Fitzsimmons said, but if you want to be a better player — if you want to be a better person — listen to him, and he’ll never let you down.

Leaving family behind — temporarily

The indirect turnpike Bednar drove from Charleston to Denver was peppered with priceless tolls.

His playing career peaked in the AHL – the hockey equivalent to minor league baseball’s Triple-A – and before the Avalanche offered him its head coaching position two offseasons ago, getting a shot at the NHL felt within sight, just not quite within reach. But this was always Bednar’s vision, and “anything Beds has ever said he’s going to do, he’s never failed to follow through,” Marietti said.

Bednar won wherever he coached in the minor leagues. He won the Kelly Cup with the Stingrays in 2009 and the Calder Cup with Lake Erie in 2016, making stops in Peoria, Ill., and Springfield, Mass., along the way. But no matter where he went beyond Charleston, Bednar came home every night to an empty home. His wife and two kids – Kruz, 18, and Savega, 13 – stayed back in South Carolina, growing up out of sight.

“That was hard for him. I mean, it really was,” Concannon said. “And when you look at the season Colorado had last year, I’m not sure he understood how much of a resource it was to finally have his family around when things weren’t going great. This season, he’s a happier guy, and it’s not just that the Avs are winning. I think he’s understanding the value of unplugging for a while and enjoying that time with family.”

Bednar won’t argue.

“Everyone has to have their outlets and their escapes away from the rink,” he said. “As a player, you go out, you’re invested in it but you get to go out on the ice and play. You feel like you have a major impact … and you get to release frustration with energy on the ice. As a coach, you tend to – especially when things aren’t going good – you tend to grind on why you’re not winning. So to be able put your work in and then go escape and see the kids, spend time with your wife, I think it’s invaluable.”

It’s been a punishing toll road Bednar has trekked to reach this point in his career. Missing your kids growing up is hard. So is being the coach of one of the worst NHL teams of the modern era, as Colorado was last year, during an age of social media where it’s impossible to ignore fans and pundits calling for your termination, but he’s always seen the big picture.

His bad first season with the Avs was a necessary step, and he needed to cull the roster with youth to fix it. Leaving his family in Charleston was a requirement if he was ever going to reach the NHL. And that empty lot he bought in 2011? He knew it meant flipping 24 houses so he could afford to one day build his dream home on it.

“I have faith in myself and the job that I can do,” Bednar said.

And there doesn’t appear to be a reason for that to ever change.

Three things to watch when the Avalanche and Predators face off for Game 4

Rattle Rinne. Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne was pulled early in the second period of Game 3 on Monday after allowing four goals on 15 shots. He has allowed 10 goals in the series, including four each in the last two games. At the other end, the Avs’ Jonathan Bernier has been better — but not by much. Both goalies are due for an excellent low-scoring outing.

Power up. The Avalanche’s power play went 0-of-5 Monday and is just 1-of-13 in the series. The second unit has missed point-man Sam Girard in the last two games, and his possible return to the lineup will help. But the No. 1 unit led by point-man Tyson Barrie needs to capitalize — a big key for a team that can’t compare with Nashville’s scoring depth.

Landeskog. Game 3 was chippy, and the Avs’ top line is bound to continue to get face-washed and cross-checked between whistles. Left wing and team captain Gabe Landeskog has been in the middle of every scrum — because it’s his nature and he wants to divert the attention away from linemates Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.