It does not quite seem like such a long time ago that Patrick Roy was behind the bench of the Colorado Avalanche squad who hired him all the way back in 2013. It’s one of those situations that you realize how fast time flies by. Well, it’s been eight years since the Hall of Fame goaltender decided to leave the team.
He returns to Colorado to face the Avalanche on Monday night. The Avalanche are 2-0 against Roy’s Islanders since he was hired last January. This is a perfect time for the Avalanche to get on track.
Colorado is entering this matchup with a record of 0-2. Despite scoring four goals in each of their first two games, goaltending and turnovers have haunted the team so far, resulting in losses of 8-4 and 6-4, to the Golden Knights and Blue Jackets, respectfully.
The disappointing thing is that the game against the Blue Jackets should have been a fairly easy game to come away with a victory. Unfortunately, goaltending hs doomed the Avalanche so far, resulting in head coach Jared Bednar pulling Alexandar Georgiev early in both games in favour of Justus Annunen.
Colorado Avalanche head coach had a hilarious quote on Monday morning about Patrick Roy’s departure
Patrick Roy went 130-92-24 in 246 games he coached the Colorado Avalanche. He helped the Avalanche win 52 games in 2013-14, but it went downhill from there over the next two years, when his team went 39-31-0-12 and 39-39-0-4 the following two years.
Roy decided right before the following season’s start to depart from the Avalanche. Thus, the Jared Bednar era began.
Speaking of Roy, Bednar said something that made me chuckle on Monday morning…
“I probably owe him a big hug and a steak dinner”
— Jesse Montano (@jessemontano_) October 14, 2024
Jared Bednar on Patrick Roy leaving Colorado as head coach so abruptly.
Maybe Bednar and Roy can arrange a meetup at some point during the offseason and bond, if that’s their sort of thing. Now a question that could be asked is what cut of steak Bednar likes to have for his meals. Of course, I’m just having a bit of fun with that.
But the focus now is the Avalanche trying to go for their first win of the season. It’s the more important thing right now.
I’m looking for three players in particular to step up tonight: Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Calum Ritchie. Ritchie is on a nine-game tryout right now, and while he hasn’t done anything bad to make the decision easier for Bednar, the next few games are crucial for him.