Colorado Avalanche fans are divided after Patrick Roy’s departure, but the time has come to unite under mutual love of the club.
When Patrick Roy decided to join the Colorado Avalanche organization as Head Coach, I was ecstatic. Not only was my hero, Joe Sakic, inches away from being General Manager, but the greatest goaltender of all time was about to lead this team back to relevancy.
And return to relevancy the Avs did. In Roy’s first year as coach, the Avs roasted the Central Division standings, finishing on top with 112 points. I’ll never forget laughing in disbelief as Roy nearly killed cheeto-cheeks Bruce Boudreau with the partition in that first game against the Ducks. The man brought passion back to the Avs.
While the team fell in the first round to the team that can’t get past the second round to save their lives, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t genuinely excited about Avalanche hockey again.
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Roy’s success that first season really woke me up from the dismal failure that was Joe Sacco’s coaching.
I do write constantly in defense of advanced stats on this site, but after the #whynotus season, I was fierce in my defense of Roy and the team’s ability to make a cup run in the near future. Unfortunately, those analytics nerds turned out to be right, and created another analytics nerd in the process: me.
Still, I held out hope for the team. Sakic made some numbers-based hires, and shifted his strategy towards players with more speed and skill. Roy, however, was more oriented towards players with size and grit.
Both have been proven to work in today’s NHL, when properly executed. The Los Angeles Kings are a modern model of how to win with size, while the Chicago Blackhawks are the shining example of winning with skill.
The Avs, however, lacked what both of these cup-winning teams had in spades: possession. They lacked it under Sacco, and they lacked it under Roy. What is to blame for this?
There’s plenty of different opinions, but at this point, it’s irrelevant; Patrick Roy has left the organization, and Jared Bednar has joined the Avalanche as head coach. Coach Bednar has no ill will towards the previous regime, but is going to do his best to make this the best hockey team he can. That’s his job.
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Patrick Roy can never be forgotten; he helped bring two Stanley Cups to Colorado as a goaltender, and woke the whole franchise up as a coach. He is, and forever shall be, a legend of the Colorado Avalanche.
However, fans of the Colorado Avalanche should remember the past while looking forward to the future, which already looks bright under Coach Bednar’s direction. Regardless of your opinion on Roy, Bednar deserves a fair shake before judgement is passed.
It’s time to unite and get excited about the team we all love, as they enter a new chapter of their history.
Thanks for stopping by, and as always, LET’S GO AVALANCHE.
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