Colorado Avalanche Final Word on Why Patrick Roy Left

With almost a year’s distance for perspective, let’s look at why Patrick Roy really left the Colorado Avalanche.

I’ve been forecasting for a while that I’d be doing a Colorado Avalanche series on, essentially, why Patrick Roy was right. To be clear, this was inspired by a reader — I simply decided to run with it in my blogger way.

Let’s start by clearing up some timing. Patrick Roy resigned on August 11, 2016. The Colorado Avalanche’s first preseason game was September 27. Training camp began on Thursday, September 22.

That means Roy resigned a full six weeks before the start of training camp. I don’t consider six weeks “just before” training camp. Six weeks is plenty of time to find an NHL coach.

GM Joe Sakic hired Jared Bednar on August 25, two weeks after Roy’s resignation. Bednar had never coached or been an assistant coach for an NHL team — he’d never played in an NHL game either. The timing and the candidate were all on Joe Sakic. He interviewed candidates with NHL experience — including Stanley Cup experience. He presumably could have had them in the Pepsi Center front offices by August 15.

Because here’s where I get into the opinion part of the post. All of the above is fact. Here’s my opinion: Joe Sakic forced out Patrick Roy. Therefore, he should have had head coach candidates in mind before Roy officially resigned.