Patrick Roy resigns as head coach of Colorado Avalanche
By Josh Hill
Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy has quit his job.
The NHL season is right around the corner from getting underway, and already we’ve had a major shakeup. Despite going through the whole offseason, free agency and the draft with the team, Patrick Roy has just now decided he’s not the man for the job.
On Thursday afternoon, Roy announced that he was resigning as the head coach of the Avalanche, effective immediately. Roy made the announcement on Thursday afternoon, shocking mostly everyone in the hockey community.
This is highly unusual, as an NHL head coach is usually informed of his job being in danger after the season starts, he doesn’t step away from the gig before the season even starts. But that’s exactly what Roy did and he leaves behind young and talented team that someone is going to step in and lead right away to some degree of success.
Initial reports on Roy’s resignation seem to point to aggressive discourse between his vision for the team and the front office leaning on hockey analytics to complete the puzzle. Kristen Shilton mentioned that Roy felt that he wasn’t being involved in team decisions and was being cut out despite his title as VP of Hockey Operations.
Here is Roy’s complete statement on why he up and quit his job this morning:
"“For the past three years, I have carried out my duties as Head Coach and Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Colorado Avalanche with energy, passion and determination.I have thought long and hard over the course of the summer about how I might improve this team to give it the depth it needs and bring it to a higher level. To achieve this, the vision of the coach and VP-Hockey Operations needs to be perfectly aligned with that of the organization. He must also have a say in the decisions that impact the team’s performance. These conditions are not currently met.Today, I am informing you of my decision to leave the Colorado Avalanche organization. Though it saddens me, I have put much thought about this decision in recent weeks and have come to be fully comfortable with it.I am grateful to the Colorado Avalanche organization, with which I remain in good terms, for letting me lead this great team. I thank all the players I have had the pleasure of coaching and the fans for their unwavering, unconditional support.I remain forever loyal to the Avalanche with which I played 478 games, coached another 253, and won two Stanley Cups.”"
The Avs had almost instant success under Roy’s leadership. They went to the postseason as the best team in the Western Conference but ended up getting bounced by the feisty Minnesota Wild in the first round back in 2013.
From there is was a struggle to recapture that early success as Roy became more known for his wild antics and insane coaching decisions than winning games for the Avs. Some of his ideas ended up working, like pulling his goalie with over two-mintues left in a game and other wild things he threw against the wall.
must read: 30 Best Late Night Jokes about Donald Trump
But rather than end up being the NHL’s Joe Maddon, Roy is now giving up on a team that looked like it was poised to bounce back in 2016-17 — and if it does, it won’t be because of him.
"“For the past three years, I have carried out my duties as Head Coach and Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Colorado Avalanche with energy, passion and determination.I have thought long and hard over the course of the summer about how I might improve this team to give it the depth it needs and bring it to a higher level. To achieve this, the vision of the coach and VP-Hockey Operations needs to be perfectly aligned with that of the organization. He must also have a say in the decisions that impact the team’s performance. These conditions are not currently met.Today, I am informing you of my decision to leave the Colorado Avalanche organization. Though it saddens me, I have put much thought about this decision in recent weeks and have come to be fully comfortable with it.I am grateful to the Colorado Avalanche organization, with which I remain in good terms, for letting me lead this great team. I thank all the players I have had the pleasure of coaching and the fans for their unwavering, unconditional support.I remain forever loyal to the Avalanche with which I played 478 games, coached another 253, and won two Stanley Cups.”"