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Colorado Avalanche: Alternate Patrick Roy Reality

By Nadia Archuleta

DENVER, CO - JULY 1: Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy gives an interview as director of hockey operations Joe Sakic speaks with the media in the foreground during a press conference to welcome Nathan MacKinnon, the number one overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft. MacKinnon, a native of Nova Scotia, addressed the media at the Pepsi Center. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JULY 1: Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy gives an interview as director of hockey operations Joe Sakic speaks with the media in the foreground during a press conference to welcome Nathan MacKinnon, the number one overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft. MacKinnon, a native of Nova Scotia, addressed the media at the Pepsi Center. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO – JULY 1: Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy gives an interview as director of hockey operations Joe Sakic speaks with the media in the foreground during a press conference to welcome Nathan MacKinnon, the number one overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft. MacKinnon, a native of Nova Scotia, addressed the media at the Pepsi Center. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – JULY 1: Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy gives an interview as director of hockey operations Joe Sakic speaks with the media in the foreground during a press conference to welcome Nathan MacKinnon, the number one overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft. MacKinnon, a native of Nova Scotia, addressed the media at the Pepsi Center. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /

The Colorado Avalanche would have been a completely different team if it had been Joe Sakic, and not Patrick Roy, who resigned last summer.

Imagine for a second that things had gone down differently for the Colorado Avalanche last summer — you know I have. A lot.

It starts already late in the season. The team is free-falling out of playoff contention. It’s March 26, and GM Joe Sakic hears head coach Patrick Roy ripping into the team between the second and third periods of the Minnesota Wild game.

The Avalanche still go on to lose the game 4-0, and they still get eliminated from playoff contention. However, Sakic hears the blow up and decides to pull his old friend aside.

“Listen, Patty,” Joe says, “You’ve got to take these things in stride.”

“The team doesn’t have a winning attitude,” Patrick blasts back.

“They don’t, but that’s ok.”

Roy’s head nearly explodes. Red in the face, he demands, “How is that ok?!”

Calmly, Sakic explains that the team is going to go in a new direction. They’re going to move away from size and focus on speed and skill.

Roy rolls his eyes. “Speed and skill have always been an emphasis.”

“But now we’re going to sacrifice size for speed if necessary. In fact, we’re going to be getting smaller — but we’ll just say we’re getting younger and faster.”

Halfway through Roy is already shaking his head. “The team is going to get beat up. I’m not going to do that to my players.”

Sakic then utters the words that seals his fate instead of Roy’s. “You’re not going to have to worry about that. You’re going to just focus on coaching instead of player personnel.”

That gives Patrick Roy the head’s up sooner — Joe Sakic is trying to force him out. After indulging in an internal rage the includes observing Sakic wouldn’t even have one Stanley Cup, much less two, without his services, Roy begins to plot.

Patrick Roy overthrows the Colorado Avalanche hierarchy. He ousts Joe Sakic instead of vice versa. He intimidates the new general manager, Chris MacFarland, into giving him de facto control of the team and reminds assistant GM Craig Billington that he’s ever been Roy’s backup — and that hasn’t changed.

Let’s see what the Colorado Avalanche would have looked like if Patrick Roy, not Joe Sakic, had been wielding the reins last season.

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