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Colorado Avalanche: Patrick Roy Quit On Organization

By Jeremy Lambert

Apr 1, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy on his bench in the third period against the Washington Capitals at the Pepsi Center. The Capitals defeated the Avalanche 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 1, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy on his bench in the third period against the Washington Capitals at the Pepsi Center. The Capitals defeated the Avalanche 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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Patrick Roy quits on Colorado Avalanche team, players, and fans.

You’ve heard the news by now. Patrick Roy has resigned as the Colorado Avalanche head coach and Vice President of hockey operations. The news came as a shock to not only fans but to the organization as well. Roy cited that he and management (Joe Sakic for those who can’t read between the lines) were heading in different directions.

Throughout his career, Roy was heralded as the ultimate competitor. He wouldn’t accept losing, whether he was the guy in net, the back-up for the night, or the bench boss. Roy is known for being passionate, sometimes too passionate, about winning and didn’t understand how anyone could be OK with losing.

So how is he OK with his decision?

Patrick Roy quit on the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. He didn’t get his way in the offseason, and he took his puck and went home.

According to reports, Roy wasn’t happy that the organization drafted so many NCAA players and passed on QMJHL players. He also wasn’t happy that the team wasn’t more aggressive in free agency.

The first complaint is valid unless he was asking the team to reach on a player just because they played in the QMJHL. Sakic and the organization could’ve thrown Roy a bone and taken a player from the QMJHL just to satisfy his ego if they were within draft range.

However, Roy isn’t a scout. He may like QMJHL players because he coached in that league and is familiar with the style of play, but that was three years ago. It’s highly doubtful that he has a first-hand scouting report on a potential 3rd round pick. And if he spent more time scouting the QMJHL than he did focusing on his own team, then he was doing a disservice to the Avs.

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The second complaint shows Roy’s philosophy as a decision maker, which I’ll touch on in a bit. I’ll just say that the Avs were right in not being aggressive in free agency. There was no franchise altering player to be signed and because they didn’t have the extensions for Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Barrie done, they didn’t know how much money they could spend on free agents. Failure to extend MacKinnon and Barrie before July 1st falls on the entire front office, including Roy.

Now, about Roy’s philosophy. He wants results. I get it. We all want results from our teams. But smart teams know that there’s a process to getting those results. Spending money on big name free agents and trading away young talent who have yet to reach their prime isn’t how you get results. It’s possible that the Avs core of Matt Duchene, MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Barrie, and Erik Johnson will never get the results that we as fans are searching for. But those players have the pedigree to succeed; it’s up to the coach to get the most out of them.

That’s where Roy has failed over the years. I’ll never question his passion, but I’ll always second guess his tactics and decisions. Constantly switching lines, playing guys who shouldn’t be in the league, having no answer when things were going bad, the lack of a structured system. All of that falls on Roy.

Maybe the players aren’t as good as we as fans think they are or hope they turn out to be, but it’s foolish to think that Roy had nothing to do with how the players performed on the ice. Roy always wanted to hold the players accountable, but seemingly refused to look in the mirror and hold himself accountable.

Roy wasn’t the worst coach in the league, but it’s pretty telling that fans of other teams are scared of the Colorado Avalanche next year, and Montreal fans would rather keep Michelle Therrien. Roy obviously did some good things with the organization. He kicked off a new era and brought eyeballs to a team lacking an identity. You don’t win a Jack Adams Award and a division title if you’re clueless with a clipboard. More so than any award, the players genuinely enjoyed playing for Roy.

No amount of accomplishments or praise excuses the way he left. Six weeks before training camp opens, the Avs are without a head coach. He blinded the team and the organization with his announcement. He left in the most selfish and disgraceful way possible. He left the way you would expect Patrick Roy to leave.

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