Montreal Canadiens: Revisiting the Patrick Roy Trade, 25 Years Later

With it now being 25 years since the infamous Patrick Roy trade, let’s take a look back at what many consider to be one of the worst trades in NHL history.

December 6th, 1995 is a day Montreal Canadiens fans would like to forget.

In the history of the NHL, there have been a lot of bad trades. The Nashville Predators acquiring Filip Forsberg from the Washington Capitals for Martin Erat. The Pittsburgh Penguins acquiring Alex Stojanov from the Vancouver Canucks for Markus Naslund. The Toronto Maple Leafs acquiring Andrew Raycroft for Tuukka Rask. However, in spite of the numerous bad trades present in NHL history, there have been few, which have left as much of an impact, as when the Montreal Canadiens traded, Patrick Roy, 25 years ago today.

Ever since I first started writing about hockey, this trade has been something that I’ve been continually fascinated by, marking the beginning of an era in Canadiens history characterized by mediocre if not downright bad performance, more terrible trades, and Dave Morrisette accidentally knocking out Bob Probert.

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Having analyzed every aspect of it, from the days leading up to it, to the days following it, this trade is something many Canadiens fans feel continues to plague the team 25 years later. In many ways, the Patrick Roy trade is the most famous trade in Montreal Canadiens history, something Habs fans feel the team has still not recovered from.

It was December 2nd, 1995.

With the Canadiens off to a mediocre 12-10-1 start to the season, Scotty Bowman’s league leading Detroit Red Wings visited the Forum in what was expected to be a solid game. While Roy hadn’t had an amazing start to the year, the team was expected to rebound from a mediocre 1994-95 season and rekindle what led them to their 24th Stanley Cup in 1992-93. While long-time GM Serge Savard and head coach Jacques Demers had been fired early into the season, replaced by two candidates with no experience in Rejean Houle and Mario Tremblay, Habs fans still had reason for hope, especially with Roy leading the way.

However, as goal after goal trickled in, and Canadiens fans sarcastic, arm-raising cheers grew louder and louder, something began to seem off. As the goals allowed reach 4 5 to 6 for Roy, Montreal’s star player continually looked to the bench for relief but received little from Tremblay. After the 9th goal allowed, with the game far out of reach, Roy was pulled for backup Pat Jablonski, but the damage was already done. After removing his equipment, Roy walked over to Team President Ronald Corey, and stated that he had played his last game as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. To Habs fans watching on TV, little was known about the incident, but it seemed strange regardless, as a slight feeling of unease began to settle in.

Little did we know, things would only get worse from here.

On December 6th, 1995, the Canadiens traded Roy to the first-year Colorado Avalanche, along with captain Mike Keane, in exchange for Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinsky, and Jocelyn Thibault.  Now, while its obvious now how this trade turned out for Montreal (not very well) there was still some very minor upside to the players Montreal was acquiring, and at first, the Habs seemed to get along decently without Roy. However, little could be done to remedy the fact that management had traded what many Montrealer’s saw as a folk hero of sorts, in the same vein as the classic days of Maurice Richard and Toe Blake.

The Canadiens essentially traded their franchise player, along with their Captain. In retrospect, it didn’t matter what the team acquired in exchange for that, Canadiens fans already felt betrayed, even with Thibault, Rucinsky, and Kovalenko being top prospects for the Avalanche (formerly the Quebec Nordiques). Rucinsky and Thibault were first round picks in 1991 and 1993, respectively, while Kovalenko, was 2 years removed from a 68-point rookie season in 1992-93. Prior to the trade, Kovalenko and Rucinsky had been key parts of Colorado’s offense, while Thibault struggled with growing pains behind longtime Nordiques starter Stephane Fiset. Following the trade, well you know what happened.

While Rucinsky played at an absolute torrid pace for the Canadiens, recording 60 points over 56 games, with Kovalenko also producing a solid 34 points over 51 games, Thibault struggled with consistency. With the Canadiens lacking in a truly reliable 2nd option, Thibault posted a mediocre 2.83 GAA behind Jablonski and Patrick Labreque. While the Canadiens posted a respectable 40-27-10 record behind Tremblay, they were ousted in the first round by the New York Rangers. As for the Avalanche, well,

They won the Stanley Cup.

Off the backs of Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Sandis Ozolinsh, Valeri Kamensky, Claude Lemieux, Uwe Krupp, and now Roy, the Avs stormed to a Stanley Cup title, with Sakic putting up a monstrous 34 points over 22 playoff games. Following this, things would only get better for the Avalanche, and worse for the Canadiens. While the team managed to make the playoffs again the following year under Tremblay, it was with an unimpressive 31-36-15 record, benefiting from a weaker Northeast division.

After this, Tremblay was fired, replaced with Alain Vigneault, who would lead the Canadiens to three consecutive years without a playoff appearance. Houle would, in spite of his efforts, continue to make poor decisions, such as dealing top scorer Brian Bellows to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Marc Bureau (remember him)? While Kovalenko and Thibault were gone within four seasons, with Thibault being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for Jeff Hackett, and Kovalenko being traded to the Edmonton Oilers for Scott Thornton. Houle was eventually fired midway through the 2000-01 season, replaced by Andre Savard.

Roy and the Avalanche would go on to win another Stanley Cup in 2000-01 under coach Bob Hartley, with Roy retiring after the 2002-03 season following a shocking first round playoff loss to the Minnesota Wild. While the Avalanche were able to move on from the Roy trade and look to a future under players like Sakic and Forsberg, Canadiens haven’t been as lucky.

Despite the time that has passed, and the success this team has seen, fans are still reeling from a trade many saw as the 2nd coming of Wayne Gretzky being dealt to the Los Angeles Kings. The idea of trading someone larger than life, for players that could simply never match up.

25 years on, the Canadiens are still looking for answers and success reminiscent of that 1993 team, and 25 years on, the Patrick Roy trade, remains a glowing emblem, of the beginning, of the Canadiens downward spiral.