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Gospel According to Patrick Roy, Schedule, Winchester, Landeskog

By Nadia Archuleta |

Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy has never been the shy and retiring type. He wasn’t so as a player, and he certainly isn’t so as a coach. However, he’s not as fiery as a coach as he was as a goalie. That’s ok — it’s because there’s wisdom in his words.

Coach Roy spoke with the media after the Avalanche’s practice before the team headed to Calgary to face the Flames.

NHL Scheduling

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Coach Roy has said on more than one occasion that he thought the schedulers from the NHL must have been at Starbucks when they planned out the 2014-15 season. To be honest, I think he wants to replace “Starbucks” with “bar.”

It’s not easy to create schedules when you’re trying to juggle a lot of priorities. However, the Avalanche have had nine back-to-back games already and still have two more on the schedule. These have been key match ups, too, in which the team has had to face conference or even division rivals on the second night. Indeed, they faced the Minnesota Wild twice on the second half of a back-to-back twice.

Jesse Winchester

Remember last summer? Roy and GM Joe Sakic decided to pick up forward Jesse Winchester from free agency. They had him in mind for the fourth line. Unfortunately, Winchester suffered a concussion during the preseason had has spent the last several months battling vision problems related to the concussion.

According to coach Roy, Winchester is finally on the cusp of returning:

“He will do the [road] trip. He said he had a good practice today. He’ll do the morning skate, and we’ll see after.”

Roy adds that the team will re-evaluate his fitness to join the game dependent on the morning skate.

Team Play

Patrick Roy is proud of the Colorado Avalanche. They may not have the record he wants, but he sees the good in their recent play. Indeed, the Avs have gone 13-8-2 since the All Star Break — They’ve gone 6-1-1 in March.

Patrick Roy talked about what he appreciates about his players:

“They’re resilient. They compete hard. I like the energy we bring to the practices. I like our mindset.”

When Altitude TV’s Julie Browman asked him about their road trip, Roy pointed out that they’re facing the Calgary Flames, who are just ahead of them in the standings. He saw the timing as auspicious:

“If we want to catch these teams, we’re going to have to beat these teams. And we’re going to have to play good hockey if we want to have a chance.”

Gabriel Landeskog

Last year, I felt as if coach Roy were reserving his judgement on Gabriel Landeskog. Well, if that were true, he has made his judgement, and it’s a good one. He’s praised the young Avalanche captain on numerous occasions.

During the presser, he remarked upon Landeskog’s current points streak, commenting that he’s playing very well with linemates Ryan O’Reilly and first Nathan MacKinnon then Alex Tanguay. He added:

“What I like about Landy is he’s playing the right way. He’s playing the hard way. He’s been an outstanding leader for our team.”

In a previous presser, Roy called Landeskog “rock solid.” He added:

“He’s mixing really well leadership and performance on the ice. He doesn’t feel that he needs to speak all the time in the dressing room.”

It has been said more than once that Landeskog is not vocal in the dressing room. Considering his generally gregarious nature and charisma, I think that commentary relates to speaking hard words to the team.

In any case, Roy praised his consistent performance, adding, “It’s easy to see him as a leader when you see the way he’s been working and how hard he’s been playing.”

Indeed, coach Roy likes the goals obviously, but he appreciates the physical nature of Landeskog’s game, too.

The Colorado Avalanche face the Calgary Flames at altitude — a lower altitude, mind you — tonight in Calgary.

Next: The Cult of Patrick Roy

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