Mile High Sticking
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Patrick Roy and Colorado Avalanche Team Structure

By Nadia Archuleta

Jan 18, 2016; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy reacts during the second period against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 18, 2016; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy reacts during the second period against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 27, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Francois Beauchemin (32) center Mikhail Grigorenko (25) and left wing Cody McLeod (55) take position for a faceoff in the first period of a game against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /

Hockey IQ

You can’t just go around hitting things and driving the net and stay on Patrick Roy’s Colorado Avalanche team. You’ve got to be smart about how you play.

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For example, in his first year as coach for the Avalanche, coach Roy like to pair a stay-at-home defenseman with an offensive one. (Remember Erik Johnson with Jan Hejda, Tyson Barrie with Nate Guenin.) This has evolved into pairing two-way defensemen and expected them to sort out which takes which role.

This is clear in his top defensive pairing of Erik Johnson and Francois Beauchemin. Both are known for being two-way players. However, the pair keeps getting top minutes against the best opponents because Johnson tends to stay back while Beauchemin jumps into the play. This means one is always in the correct position to defend against a turnover.

Defensemen need to be good puck movers, too, but it’s essential that they maintain their ice vision.

This goes for forwards, too, of course. At the beginning of the season, players were making mental errors at the absolute worst time and costing the games.

Coach Roy has been working hard to create a team of players who maintain their focus no matter how the game rolls — he’s talked a lot about mental preparation, the need to stay “even keel” before, during and after games. This language has definitely permeated the locker room as you hear everyone from captain Gabriel Landeskog to newbie Chris Bigras remark being “even keel.”

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