#Patrick roy stanley cups professional

“And there’s a lot of people that were talking about it, but Gretz was on fire that night. I mean, we were all watching Game 7 between L.A. The tantalizing possibility of a final between the long-time Canadian adversaries was a topic of discussion in the Forum dressing room, Roy says. But in the midst of one of the finest playoff campaigns in his incomparable career, Wayne Gretzky played spoiler extraordinaire, rallying the Kings from a 3-2 best-of-seven-series disadvantage, punctuated with a hat trick in Game 7 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Those 1993 playoffs marked the 100th anniversary of the first awarding of the Stanley Cup, and for a while it looked like the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs were on a collision course to meet in the final. I mean, we lost the first overtime game against Quebec and then we went on to win 10 in a row afterwards.” “But it was because we had so much success. “In our case the confidence got stronger and stronger,” he said. While that’s a mark that’s unlikely to be bettered any time soon, for the unflappable guy between the pipes – whose own coolness under pressure famously extended to winking at Kings forward Tomas Sandstrom during overtime in the Stanley Cup final – it all comes down to momentum. That OT prowess was ultimately one of the keys to that ‘93 Canadiens squad winning the Stanley Cup, with the team setting an NHL record for overtime wins in one playoff year.

They won 11 consecutive games from that point, disposing of Quebec, blowing by Buffalo and pushing the New York Islanders – who had upset the Penguins along the way – to the brink of elimination. “So when the coach is willing to do those things, obviously as a player you want to perform, you want to give them a good game.” And then he just said ‘Hey, I’m going to live and die with you.’ “I didn’t have good Games 1 and 2 against Quebec. “It would have been easy for him to put me on the bench after Game 2,” Roy said. Chief among their concerns was the play of Roy, who had conceded six goals through two games, leading to some calling for the benching of the all-star goaltender in favour of backup André Racicot.īut head coach Jacques Demers – who Roy recalled as one of his favourite bench bosses – wasn’t about to kowtow to the boo birds. So while the Canadiens were a team that kept opponents on their toes, they were by no means favourites entering the playoffs, and their chances looked slim at best after falling into a 2-0 first-round hole against the Quebec Nordiques. The Canadiens had finished the regular season sixth over all in the NHL standing, 17 points back of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, who were gunning for a third consecutive championship. “We appreciate all he has done for our organization and wish him the best of luck in the future,” Sakic added.Īlthough Roy led the Avs to a first-place divisional finish in 2014-his first year as coach-Colorado failed to make the playoffs the next two seasons despite fielding a roster of impressive young stars.Of the record 24 Stanley Cups on the Canadiens roll of honour, that last one has a special resonance to those old enough to remember it. (He also won two Stanley Cups playing for the Montreal Canadiens before being traded to Colorado.) The fiery ex-goaltender finished with 130 wins, 92 regulation losses, and 24 overtime/shootout losses as Colorado’s coach.Īvs general manager and executive vice president Joe Sakic, Roy’s teammate with the Avalanche, said the search for a new coach will begin immediately.

#Patrick roy stanley cups professional

Roy’s professional coaching career began in 2013 after he won two Stanley Cup trophies with the Avalanche as a player from 1996 to 2003. He must also have a say in the decisions that impact the team’s performance.

“To achieve this, the vision of the coach and VP-Hockey Operations needs to be perfectly aligned with that of the organization. “I have thought long and hard over the course of the summer about how I might improve this team to give it the depth it needs and bring it to a higher level,” Roy said in the statement. That's only $1 per issue! Subscribe Today »

The 25 Best Neighborhoods in Denver in 2023.