New York Islanders coach Patrick Roy stepped onto the ice at Ball Arena and took a moment to look up at the rafters. His familiar No. 33 was still hanging there with the other retired Colorado Avalanche numbers.
Being back in Colorado brought back memories of when he helped the team win two Stanley Cup championships as a goaltender. It also made him think about how he left the Avalanche when he unexpectedly resigned as their coach just two months before the start of the 2016-17 NHL season.
“A lot of good memories,” Roy said on Monday after practice, just hours before his first game against his former team as the Islanders’ coach. “That’s the way I want to look at it.”
Roy has no regrets about how he handled that situation, even though it took him more than seven years to get another head coaching job in the NHL. He now appreciates returning to the bench last January when he took over from Lane Lambert.
“I’m in a much better place today than I was then, more respect for the position, more appreciation for being back in the league,” said Roy, who led the Islanders to the playoffs last season with a 20-12-5 record. “At the same time, things went well for the Avs.”
This was especially true for Jared Bednar, who became the Avalanche’s coach after Roy left. Bednar had a tough first season, with the team going 22-56-4 in 2016-17, but five years later, the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup.
“I probably owe him a big hug and a steak dinner,” Bednar said about Roy. “Everyone does what’s right for them personally, but for me, it just opened a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
After the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022, Roy sent a text to his former teammate and Avalanche president Joe Sakic, expressing how proud he was.
“I was happy for them,” Roy said. “When you play here for those years, and the connection with the fans and the opportunity to wear that jersey night after night, it’s something that we put a lot of pride in.”
Being back in Colorado, Roy couldn’t help but think about Pierre Lacroix, the Avalanche general manager who passed away in 2020. Lacroix was once Roy’s agent and helped make the trade that brought Roy from Montreal to Colorado.
“He’s the one that gave me my chance,” Roy said. “So obviously, I’m always going to have a thought for him.”
Roy won 551 games during his Hall of Fame career as a goaltender with Montreal and Colorado. He earned three Vezina trophies and was part of four Stanley Cup-winning teams with the Canadiens (1986, 1993) and Avalanche (1996, 2001).
At 59 years old, Roy was hired as the coach of Colorado in 2013 to help improve the team. He led the Avalanche to the playoffs in his first season, working with a rookie named Nathan MacKinnon. However, after two more seasons, Roy unexpectedly stepped down. At that time, Sakic mentioned that the team’s struggles influenced Roy’s choice to leave.
“In the past, I would take things for granted,” Roy explained Monday. “Sometimes it’s nice to put your ego aside and understand that it’s a privilege coaching in this league. Every day you need to put the work (in), you try to learn new things. I think that’s what I’ve been doing a lot better than I was doing then.”
He’s treating this game like any other, keeping the same mindset as last season when he faced Montreal.
“I always have the Avs in my heart. Same thing with Montreal,” Roy said. “I had great memories over those 11 years that I was involved with the (Avalanche) organization. I’m thankful for it.”
