When the Quebec Nordiques joined the National Hockey League in 1979 it didn’t take them that long to become a competitive team as they qualified for the postseason in their second season in the league. Playing in Quebec City, Quebec, the Nordiques had some epic battles with the Montreal Canadiens, but they were unable to step out of their massive shadow. In 1995 the Nordiques packed up and moved to Denver as they became the Colorado Avalance. In their first season in the United Stats the Avalanche won their first Stanley Cup Championship. The Avalance would then go on to win another Stanley Cup in 2001. During that time the Avalanche would have some epic battles with the Detroit Red Wings for supremacy in the Western Conference. The man at the center of all of this action for the Avalanche was their goalie Patrick Roy.
Roy was traded by the Canadiens to the Avalanche during the 1995-1996 NHL season and he brought a winning attitude with him along with two Stanley Cup Championships that he had won in Montreal.
Now Roy is in a different role with the Avalanche and he is leading a revival. After finishing last with the second worst record in the NHL, Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke appointed Roy as the team’s head coach and vice president of hockey operations. It didn’t take long for Roy that long to make an impact once again on the NHL. During Colorado’s season opener against the Anaheim Ducks, Roy got into a shouting match with Ducks head coach Bruce Bodreau. The shouting escalated as Roy attempted to go over to the Ducks bench. The NHL fined Roy $10,000 for his actions, but his team got the message as they defeated the Ducks 6-1.
Now after the first month of play to the season, the Avalanche are tied for the second best record in hockey as they only trail the Ducks by three points for the top spot in the league.
The turnaround for the Avalanche this season has begun on defense. Last season Colorado allowed 3.13 goals per game which was 27th in the NHL. This season the Avalanche are only allowing 1.80 goals per game which leads the league. The only two games this season in which the Avalanche allowed more than two goals in a game are the only two contests in which they have lost. Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov has emerged as one of the top net minders in the NHL this season as his 2.10 goals against average is tied for sixth in the league. The Avalanche’s other goalie in Jean-Sebastien Giguere is a perfect 5-0 on the season and he is only allowing a goal per game which currently leads the NHL. Last season the Avalanche were 20th in the NHL for penalty kill percentage while this season they are third.
Last season on offense the Avalanche’s 2.38 goals per game average left them as the 26th best offense in the NHL. This season their 3.33 goals per game average is tied for fourth in the league. Center Matt Duchene has emerged as a scoring threat as his 11 goals on the season are tied for fourth in the National Hockey League.
Aside from Duchene the Avalanche do not have a player that is currently in the top 10 of any offensive category in the NHL, but what they do have is a team with a workman’s like approach that comes straight from Roy. Roy was reprimanded for his actions by the NHL during his head coaching debut. In the same fashion that the Avalanche got his message so did the rest of the NHL as this team is no longer going to lay down for their opponents. In just one month Roy has brought back the excitement to the Pepsi Center and previously the McNichols Sports Arena that was on display during the late 1990’s when the Avalanche were one of the top teams in the NHL. Great players always don’t translate into great coaches, but early on Roy is solidifying himself on the bench in the same fashion that he did on the ice as one of the greatest goalies that the game of hockey has ever seen.
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