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Final Grades 2014: Patrick Roy

There was so much hype about Roy coming back to Denver, you had to expect a disaster. Not hardly.

By Cheryl Bradley
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Patrick Roy was a fierce competitor on NHL ice. In 2013-2014, he proved that he was a fierce competitor behind an NHL bench. The Jack Adams winner took a team ranked second to last in the league and turned it into a division champ. He reignited a trend of pulling goalies with 2 minutes, 3 minutes, even 4 minutes left in the game. He set a tone early, but he never lost control. Everything he did was calculated and designed to produce a winning product. He endeared himself to the fans by including them in the Avalanche family during his press conference, he entertained the hockey world with his honest and colorful interviews, and he emboldened a downtrodden team, where kids and vets alike had become all too accustomed to losing, to believe they had every chance at winning the Stanley Cup. He built relationships with us all, and we trusted and defended him all the more for it.

Regular Season

Stats
GP W L OT P ROW HROW RROW P% G/G GA/G 5-5 F/A PP% PK% S/G SA/G
82 52 22 8 112 47 23 24 0.683 2.99 2.63 1.12 19.8 80.7 29.5 32.7

Grade

A+

Staff Comments

c6hor8: For you, inhabitants of wide-wayed [Colorado], Either your great and glorious city must be wasted by [NHL] men,
Or if not that, then the bound of [Sakic] must mourn a dead king, from [Forsberg's] line.
The might of bulls or lions will not restrain him with opposing strength; for he has the might of Zeus. I declare that he will not be restrained until he utterly tears apart one of these

mfured20: I can't see how I can give any grade but the highest one.  Roy has taken a team with some talent and completely turned it's attitude around.  To use a cliche, they really did install a winning culture into a dead room.  Between that, his matchups, the fast-paced system, helping the best players play their best, and urging the less talented to overacheive... he's done remarkable things with this squad.  Taking a lottery team and making us a very serious contender has been amazing to watch.

AJ: Roy's swagger wagon rejuvenated not only the Avs but the city as well and brought back the legions of fans who otherwise had abandoned the team in hard times. His attitude and leadership resonated a team that developed a "Run through the wall for this man" mentality. Their never-say-die attitude throughout the season was a reflection of the passion of the man in charge, much as the way previous team's apathy was a reflection of the Late-Start Sacco mentality. Obviously the pulling the goalie thing was baller and we should all love him for that. Thanks, Patty.

Playoffs

Stats
GP W L OT P ROW HROW RROW P% G/G GA/G 5-5 F/A PP% PK% S/G SA/G
7 3 4 2 0 0 3 0 0.429 2.86 3.14 0.81 12.0 85.7 24.9 33.3

Grade

B-

Staff Comments

mfured20: I felt like Roy didn't do quite as well in the playoffs.  This is another thing thats a little hard to figure out: a lot of the players looked a little overwhelmed and unprepared, but how much of that rests on Roy's shoulders?  His style didn't match well against Minnesota's, but he didn't make as many adjustments as I hoped he would.  He still played gutsy hockey, but it lacked the same flashes of brilliance that I saw during the regular season.

AJ: An argument could easily be made that Roy faltered in the playoffs when matched up with the more experienced Mike Yeo. The team's lack of depth limited options but when it became exceedingly obvious to everyone on the planet that Marc-Andre Cliche wasn't going to produce a god damn lick of offense, he somehow managed to play 17 minutes in Game 7 while Joey Hishon, who had early produced a brilliant offensive spark IN THAT SAME GAME, was given the scrub minutes. I'm not sure that blame goes anywhere else but on Roy and despite all the shitty circumstances surrounding that series, one of the big reasons the Avs went home after one round was Roy's inability to put players in positions to succeed in.

Preseason Thoughts

Andi: Roy expects to win, but I'm not convinced that he's been given a roster that can pull that off. If they feed off his competitive attitude and come together as a team, then we're in good shape, but otherwise, I'm concerned that he'll become frustrated and lash out.

AJ: If Roy is able to instill the kind of heart and soul the Avs have clearly lacked the last couple years, they’re going to be a pain in the ass to play on a nightly basis. The Roy-Landy partnership might be the most exciting aspect of the Roy hiring.

Mike: I hope that Roy and Co. can be the tide that lifts all boats but the SS Avalanche has been beached for a long time and it might take some series tugboats to pull it out of the sand.

Cheryl: I do think that Roy will be highly successful. I truly believe he will be the first "best of the best player" to become a "best of the best" NHL coach.

Earl: I don't see Patrick Roy failing at anything he puts his mind to, it's just not in his nature.

Cole: I’m pretty confident that Roy and company can make some solid improvements on offense and defense. Roy has already stated that he doesn’t want to be a dump and chase team (THANK GOD) and I have a pretty good feeling that his power play wont be 100% reliant on a super formulaic drop pass zone entry play.

Sandie: Roy will not stand behind a bench that does not care about the on-ice product.