Before Sunday’s
series finale between the Avalanche and the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center,
Patrick Roy opened his pre-game press conference by taking a cheap shot at the
Twin Cities media—specifically the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo.
Below is Patrick Roy's statement:
According to Chad Graff (from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press) via Twitter, Roy was "unhappy with the way Minnesota media portrayed events of last (February 28) game, called an article in today's (Sunday) Star Tribune 'garbage.'" (Going into Sunday's game, the Wild have a 4-0 record against the Avalanche this season).
Graff goes on to state (via Twitter) that according to Roy, "Nothing major happened. I'm looking at their line up and (Wild forward Mikael) Granlund seems to be there tonight, isn't he?"
So, Roy is implying that Granlund is a "goon?" What was Roy paying attention to during the last 8 seconds of the game on February 28 at the Pepsi Center? Nothing major happened? Well, if memory serves me correctly, Cody McLeod was called for a 2 minute unsportsmanlike minor, a 5 minute fighting major, and a 10 minute misconduct penalty (along with being tossed from the game). McLeod was fined by the league $3,098.40 for "purposely entering the game with less than 10 seconds for purposely starting an altercation." (stated in my last blog post, here). Roy should be very thankful that McLeod wasn't called for an instigating penalty because Roy would have been fined $10K for it and McLeod would have faced a suspension.
Roy also made a similar statement about forward Charlie Coyle by stating that "if he (Yeo) puts Coyle out, I have to put somebody out on the ice." After McLeod's hit on Granlund, Coyle stood up for his teammate and fought with McLeod.
Michael Russo (who was out of town on Sunday) did make this statement via twitter:
I read the article that Patrick Roy is calling "garbage." I also quoted Russo in my previous blog post. I didn't see where Russo was advocating for McLeod or any other Avs player to be injured. As I recall, Roy made a statement to Mike Kiszla from the Denver Post either at the end of the playoffs last season or the beginning of the season "...One of our players will hurt one of their guys." (Roy's statement can be found in this Russo article, here). That was in regards to the Matt Cooke hit on Tyson Barrie during the playoffs last year.
Roy did make himself a hypocrite when he said "If we were about revenge, it would have been done long ago because of what happened to Tyson Barrie."
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson did chime in on this whole thing by making this statement on twitter (and basically making himself hated in the state where he was born and raised):
Sorry, Erik. When your head coach makes idiotic statements like the ones he did, people have a right to call him out on it. What he accomplished as a player doesn't have to be taken into any consideration when he spews garbage like he did.
Patrick Roy should be worried more about winning games and where his team is currently in the standings than what somebody in the media says. He also needs to start having better control of his players on the ice and on the bench. With the thug/goon mentality Roy has, he could very well end up in a similar situation like former Canucks head coach Marc Crawford did when he, the Vancouver Canucks, and Todd Bertuzzi were sued by former Avalanche player Steve Moore as a result of a career-ending injury caused by a vicious hit by Todd Bertuzzi win which Moore suffered a concussion and three fractured vertebrae (more about that incident here).
Roy could have also made his garbage statements to rile his team up (which obviously worked because the Avs beat the Wild 3-2 on Sunday for their only win against the Wild this season).
As far as Patrick Roy stating "I don't think hockey needs this today," I don't think hockey needs a coach and a team with a thug mentality taking liberties at other players like McLeod's hit on Granlund and the following Gabriel Landeskog punch on Mikko Koivu when both players were on their respective benches.
Whatever respect people and hockey fans might have had for Patrick Roy as a player, Roy could very well be losing that respect as a coach. Any respect I might have had for Roy as a player (and he was a goalie I enjoyed watching when I was growing up), is definitely gone now with his statements and actions as a coach. I know he's standing up for his players, but to take a cheap shot at the media without backing those statements up with proof is showing how classless Patrick Roy is.
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