Patrick Roy rips Matt Duchene for celebrating milestone goal
Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Duchene recorded an impressive milestone Sunday night when he scored his 30th goal of the season in a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Duchene has never reached the 30-goal milestone in his career, and that tally is a pretty big deal in today's NHL.
So it made sense that, despite the Avs' 4-0 deficit at the time of the goal, Duchene would want to celebrate. His teammates even made sure to collect the puck so Duchene could save it as a keepsake.
But Avs coach Patrick Roy was not pleased by Duchene's milestone tally. Instead he blasted the center in a post-game interview for celebrating the goal.
Watch: Patrick Roy rips Matt Duchene for goal celebration (his 30th) in what was 4-0 game #Avs https://t.co/mSdsw9FycZ
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers) April 4, 2016
"The thing I have a bid of a hard time with is the reaction of Dutchy [Duchene] after he scored," Roy said. "It's a 4-0 goal. Big cheer. Are you kidding me?
"What is that? I mean, it's not the 'reflect' we want from our guys, not at all."
Roy has reason to be frustrated with his team after Sunday night's loss, a virtual must-win for the Avs if they wanted to keep their playoff hopes alive. Colorado, a loser of five of its last six games, currently sits five points behind the Minnesota Wild for the final Western Conference playoff spot. Minnesota now needs just one win or one Avalanche regulation loss in the next three games to clinch that playoff spot.
So it would ordinarily make sense for a coach to be upset in this situation when his leading scorer celebrates a goal in a blowout loss. But Duchene's celebration was not over the top. He did not do anything fancy. He simply raised his arms in celebration. Given what the goal meant for Duchene, Roy's reaction might have gone slightly overboard.
