Unfortunately I cannot talk about Patrick Roy with the same amount of bitterness that older Habs fans can. I just wasn’t around when it all went down and lack that deep personal connection so many fans have.
You may think it’s not worth going over again, but it’s worth saying. It’s worth talking about for the new fans who might know the name, but not know all the details. It’s also worth noting that the two editors on this site are the aforementioned curmudgeons who will not like reliving these memories, so hey guys, let’s go down memory lane.
It didn’t start great. Roy was drafted in the 3rd round in 1985, but having grown up in Quebec City, Roy was a big fan of the Nordiques, rather than les Canadiens. But Roy won 1 game in relief in 1985 before being sent down and winning the Calder Cup. The next year, Roy’s rookie year, he carried the team to the Stanley Cup Final and won.
The next few years were filled with regular season success without any in the postseason, before that magical year of 1993. The Canadiens finished 3rd in the division and Roy faced his favourite team in the first round: the Quebec Nordiques.
The Habs lost the first two games, but a combination of media scrutiny and comments from the Nordiques galvanized Roy, who dominated the rest of the playoffs en route to winning his second Stanley Cup, and the last Stanley Cup to be won by the Canadiens or a Canadian team. Roy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs MVP both times, the first year winning it at the age of 20, the youngest winner at the time.
But the times they were a-changin’, and in 1995 the Montreal Canadiens had a new general manager and a new coach. They were both Habs alumni: Rejean Houle and Mario Tremblay respectively. Roy and his new coach The Bionic Blueberry butted heads immediately, and allegedly they almost came to blows on several occasions, depending on who you believe.
And then Patrick Roy and the Canadiens played the Detroit Red Wings in Montreal. The Canadiens lost 11-1. Roy was in net for 9 of those goals. Tremblay didn’t pull him until the middle of the second period.
But don’t think the fans didn’t have a hand in this too. At one point Roy made a save on a Fedorov dump in and the fans gave him the patented Bronx Cheer. (The Bronx Cheer being when the home team goalie is playing poorly, so the fans cheer when the goalie makes a routine save). And then Roy raised his hands in the air quite Bronx-ily. I’m sure it didn’t change the outcome at all, but at the same time I’m sure it didn’t help.
The fun part is that at that time, the Forum had the first two rows of seats behind the home bench reserved for ownership and managers. So Roy got to tell new GM Houle that he would never play for Montreal again.
And that he did, and with it, one of Roy’s childhood dreams came true.
Kind of.
The first year Colorado Avalanche, who had just moved south from Quebec City that year made their big splash. They got Habs captain Mike Keane and Patrick Roy for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko.
Just by the fact that almost everyone that knows their names only know them because of this trade shows you how this trade went. Practically every hockey fan knows Patrick Roy. Ask someone outside of Montreal about Jocelyn Thibault might think you are talking about motorsport parts, or high-end furniture.