KRIEGER: Need a spark? Roy's a good match

By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 9, 2008 at 9:18 p.m.

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Joel Quenneville and the Avs were an arranged marriage.

He played here. He apprenticed as a coach here. He left to try his wings, like a kid going off to college.

His return was inevitable. You could see him coming long before he got here.

But there was no passion in the arranged marriage, no spark, not with his team and not with the fans.

You know who would bring a spark?

Sure you do.

But do they have the guts to do it?

I do not mean that as a dare. Hiring one of the usual suspects might well be the smarter move. But still . . .

Do they have the guts to hire Patrick Roy?

They'd need an experienced assistant, of course, someone to coach the team when Roy was suspended.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League suspended him for five games in March following a brawl in which his son, Jonathan - in goal for Roy's Quebec Remparts - skated the length of the ice to beat on Chicoutimi Sagueneens goalie Bobby Nadeau.

The video appeared to show Roy gesturing at his son just before Jonathan launched his attack, but Roy denied it. There was bad blood going in, dating to a dispute a year earlier between Roy and Sagueneens co-owner Pierre Cardinal. It was a Quebec thing.

In short, it's time somebody got Roy out of his old neighborhood and back into the mountain air of Colorado, where he can put old grudges behind him and bring his passion for hockey back to the Avalanche.

Because, let's be honest, if there was one thing missing from the Avs under Quenne- ville, it was evidence of passion. Where Roy once lit the fire from his stall by the entrance to the dressing room, Jose Theodore, occupying the same space, was about as low-key and laid-back as a goaltender can be without losing consciousness.

The rest of the room was about the same. When your captain and leader is Joe Sakic, understatement is going to be the dressing- room ethic.

Except for Ian Laperriere, of course, but there's only so much pot-stirring a forward on a checking line can do.

There's nothing wrong with understatement when you're winning. When you're not, it can start to look like meekness, or worse, resignation.

Clearly, Roy can coach. As a rookie behind the bench, he guided the Remparts to the Memorial Cup, the championship of Canadian junior men's hockey. He has no experience coaching in the NHL, but the Avs just said goodbye to a guy who was the epitome of experience coaching in the NHL, so how important can it be?

Roy knows hockey. He has spent his life steeped in the sport. The normal qualms about a coach from outside the league - will the players respect him, will he be intimidated by the surroundings - are not even issues for Roy. For one thing, any player who didn't respect him would be too dumb to play.

The most likely criticism would be that Roy is too volatile, that he will wear out his welcome with the players. But in the NHL, the clock starts ticking on Day One anyway. Quenneville lasted three seasons. His predecessor, Tony Granato, lasted 11/2. Roy would have to wear out his welcome pretty quick to beat those guys.

The front office might also consider the marketing aspect. The Avs ranked 17th in NHL attendance at 16,842 per game this season. Not bad, but serious slippage from the days of the consecutive sellout streak. You don't need a season ticket to see the big games anymore.

Normally, fans do not come out to see a coach. After all, he's just standing there. Not much entertainment value in that. The Phoenix Coyotes have the great Gretzky behind the bench and ranked 29th in attendance.

Of course, Gretzky has no history as a player in Phoenix. Hiring Patrick Roy to coach the Avs would provide a boost to ticket sales in the same way that signing Peter Forsberg as a player did this season. How long that cachet would last would depend on the team's fortunes, as it does for every coach, eventually.

But ask yourself what the Avs need in a coach. Pat Burns, from the list of usual suspects, is a former Montreal cop with a reputation as a disciplinarian. Is that what the Avs need? Was there some kind of insurrection in there this season that we didn't hear about? Do they need someone to keep them in line?

Or do they need the opposite? Do they need someone to light a spark, kick a posterior or two, rile them up?

I don't know if Quenneville was more alive behind closed doors than he was in public, but you could have bottled his interview sessions and Chevy ads and started your own sleep-supplement business.

Pretty safe bet hockey fans wouldn't do much sleeping through a Patrick Roy regime. If things get too slow, he might just barrel out onto the ice and start whaling on somebody himself.

Not that I'm endorsing fighting, mind you. Just one particular fighter.

• May 10, 2008

  9:50 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  derek writes:

  ya KRIEGER all this team needs is a penalty machine behind the bench (for the love of god does any writer is this town have a clue about the NHL?)

• May 10, 2008

  10:21 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  JustinWK writes:

  When I read this, I laughed. Scoffed, really. Then I thought about it for awhile. One of the things seemingly lacking in this modern NHL is a sense of fire or passion for the game. Thinking over the article for a time, I've come to the conclusion that I agree with Dave Krieger. Patrick Roy would be a good option. No, a great option in my opinion. I certainly think he'd hold the team accountable for their actions, and if he draws a few penalties because of HIS actions? So be it.

• May 11, 2008

  12:05 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  trekers writes:

  Could the AVs be so lucky? WOW what a thot .... sure do agree with you JustinWK ... this team needs something!

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