Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy will be the next head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, according to a Facebook posting by his brother Stephane on Monday night.
Patrick Roy to coach Avalanche? Brother says yes, but not so fast
Patrick Roy’s brother says the Hall of Fame goaltender will become the next head coach of the Colorado Avalanche.
Richard Wolowicz
Roy is currently acting as the co-owner, general manager and head coach of the Quebec Ramparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He has been rumored as a potential candidate to become Colorado’s head coach for a few years. Following the dismissal of head coach Joe Sacco in April, those rumors resurfaced.
According to Stephane, the rumors are about to become reality, via the Denver Post:
“For all my friends I’d like you to know before the official news spreads that my older brother will be the new coach of the Colorado Avalanch(sic). People in Quebec will be sad again that my brother is leaving for Denver. But he has always loved Denver too, and wants the new challenge of going back to his old team.”
Adrian Dater of the Denver Post managed to contact Stephane by phone to confirm the posting's accuracy. In addition, Stephane stated Joe Sakic -- Colorado's newly appointed vice president of hockey operations -- has been staying in Patrick's home in Florida for the last few days. Dater's posting insinuates the two are discussing the position but doesn't outwardly say so.
Stephane informed Dater a deal has been reached and the final details merely need to be worked out. However, Dater has been unable to reach the involved parties for comment and the Avalanche would not confirm that a deal has been reached.
In addition, Renaud Lavoie of RDS reports it’s premature to say the hiring of Roy is a done deal.
Sakic and Roy are former teammates with the Avalanche. They won two Stanley Cup championships during their time together. Following the hiring of Sakic, many speculated this relationship would result in Roy becoming the team’s next head coach.
Sakic recently stated in a radio interview with KKFN 104.3 FM that Roy is a candidate he would consider for the vacant position:
“I love Patrick. He was probably the greatest goalie that ever played. There’s a guy who was a winner. That’s all he wanted to do. I know he’s done a tremendous job with his junior team in Quebec and for sure he’s a guy that you would consider, yeah.”
As of Tuesday morning, the Avalanche have not officially addressed the situation.
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