Colorado Avalanche: Roy Coached Better than Bednar

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LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 24: Head Coach Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche speaks onstage after winning the Jack Adams Award during the 2014 NHL Awards at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas on June 24, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Patrick Roy’s Record

Patrick Roy’s coaching record is 130-92-24. You can say what you want about why his team went 52-22-8 that first season, or that his team went 39-39-4 his last season, but Roy coached the Colorado Avalanche to a winning record — 52% of their games.

Again, those are numbers. They don’t lie.

Now, let’s get to the objections. First, coach Roy’s Avalanche team won the Central Division with 112 points because goalie Semyon Varlamov played out of his mind, not because of anything Roy did.

Really? One of the, if not the, best goalies ever, a man who had a Hall of Fame career as a goalie, had nothing to do with his goalie’s performance? It had nothing to do with Roy bringing in his own goalie coach, Francoise Allaire?

The other reason commonly given for that stellar Why Not Us season is that the players played beyond their capabilities for the local hero coach. Again, that’s on Roy. He had a stellar playing career, including eight years here in Colorado.

Ok, let’s talk now about that 39-39-4, the 2015-16 season. Raise your hand if you wish the Colorado Avalanche had earned 82 points last year. If your hand’s not up in the air, you’re lying.

That was Patrick Roy’s worst season as a coach, and it betters Jared Bednar’s best season — 22-56-4. Roy’s worst season betters Bednar’s best season by 17 wins and 34 points.

Yes, the team was already on a downward slope under Patrick Roy, going from 112 to 90 to 82 points. If you average the two losses out, though, the team shouldn’t have expected to drop more than 15 points. A 67-point season wouldn’t have seen the Avs make the playoffs, but it would have let them hold their heads a little higher than a 48-point season.

You can point out that Jared Bendar’s sample size — one season — is smaller than Roy’s three. If I was playing hardball, I could point out that Roy’s own rookie NHL season saw the team win 63% of their games — a sight better than Bednar’s 26%. But even if I’m being nice, Roy’s worst season saw the Avs win 47% of their games — still a sight better than 26%.

Didn’t Patrick Roy win some award at the end of the 2013-14 season? Why, I do believe he did, the Jack Adams. It’s the award for coach of the year because he took the team from dead last in the Western Conference to winning the Central Division.

Patrick Roy had a better record than Jared Bednar. He won the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year because he managed his goalie and inspired his players.