Eurolanche

Will Patrick Roy be successful coach?

Patrick Roy is a hall of fame member in Toronto. He managed to win 4 Stanley Cups (2 with Montreal and 2 with Colorado). At the moment he decided to retire, he was still leading in number of won games in regular season (beaten by Martin Brodeur recently).

On Thursday last week, he accepted possibly the biggest challenge of his life and became Colorado Avalanche coach. Why? Well we all know how badly Avs were struggling to clinch the play-off spots, moreover, not to end up on the last place of the whole NHL. And St. Patrick is here to help this team to reach its potential.

For the last 8 seasons, he was coaching Quebec Remparts in QMJHL and he won the Memorial Cup with them. Not all seasons were that successful though and mind you, that not all retired successful players made a huge breakthrough as coaches. Actually, many of them ended up as a huge failure. So we can only speculate of course.

For what we know, Roy was always sort of a bad boy. He was without any doubt one of the best goalies ever played this game and re-formed the way of goaltending. He could make a pretty huge storm in the dressing room to motivate his team mates. He didn’t go far to land a punch on opponent or on an opponent’s goalie, or to get into a fight with them. He is a passionate coach that shows his emotions. He was always a big professional and for sure won´t let any of his team members think about vacation plans, when the season seems to be lost.

We are convinced this was a good choice. He has the - so called natural respect and we think that due to his accomplishments in his active career, players will follow him, believe in him. So let´s celebrate return of a legend and hopefully enjoy proper ice-hockey in Denver again!