Colorado Avalanche Hire Patrick Roy as Head Coach
By Josh Hill
It was speculated a few days ago that the Colorado Avalanche were ready to fill their head coaching vacancy with Hall of Fame netminder Patrick Roy, and those rumors are now truth. The Av’s have hired their former netminder to become not only the team’s new head coach but the acting Vice President of Hockey Operations where he’ll work along side former teammate Joe Sakic in the Av’s front office.
COACH ROY: The #Avalanche has reached an agreement in principle w/ Patrick Roy to become the franchise's Head Coach/VP of Hockey Operations.
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 23, 2013
In addition to his coaching duties, Roy will also work with Exec. VP of Hockey Ops Joe Sakic in all player personnel decisions.
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 23, 2013
The move now means that the Stanley Cup team from the early 2000s is now officially taking over this new look younger version of what could be a winning hockey team. The Av’s are loaded with young talent on their roster but they failed to make the playoffs more than once under previous head coach Joe Sacco.
“This is an unbelievable day for me,” said Roy, via the Denver Post. “It’s a new and exciting challenge that I am really looking forward to. I would like to thank Stan and Josh Kroenke for this opportunity as well as Joe Sakic for the trust they are putting in me. Almost 10 years to the day that I announced my retirement as a player I am back in Denver and hope the fans are as excited as I am.”
Roy was Colorado’s ace net minder during the early 2000s when the team won a Stanley Cup. Those championship memories are all fans suffering to watch the team can think of, but Roy’s arrival will be something that sends waves of excitement and hope through the fan base.