The rumours just won’t go away, no matter how often it’s being denied at the source. There has been no discussions, or meetings, or arrangements made between Geoff Molson, the Montreal Canadiens’ organisation, and Patrick Roy and/or his agent, Neil Glasberg.
Do I believe that the whole commercial between Mario Tremblay and Roy was planned by the Roy clan? Absolutely, I have no doubt about it. But the Canadiens’ playoffs’ success put a stop to it at the time. What next? If the Avalanche struggle, he’ll do a commercial with Joe Sakic? And it pains me to say that as I was one of his biggest fans, before he let me down, as well as his team, when requesting a trade in mid-game in 1995. Fake, fake, fake.
Bad idea
As we’ve discussed yesterday, there sure seems to be a wind of change blowing over the Canadiens’ organisation. What it is, we don’t know as the team President is hiding in his bunker, away from any media interaction. But something has to be brewing. If indeed he is planning on replacing Marc Bergevin, it is likely that interviews are well underway and candidates are already aware. The fact that Roy doesn’t appear to be one of them is a good thing.
To Mr. Molson and those who want Roy in the organisation as GM or head coach, let me remind you all of something:
- In 1995, Roy quit on his teammates, on his team and on his fans with a public knee-jerking reaction, walking behind the bench telling Ronald Corey that he had played his last game for the Habs.
- In 2002, Roy’s wife Michelle called 911 and dropped the call. She told police that she was afraid of what he would do as they argued about in-laws. Roy admitted pulling a bedroom door off its hinges and damaging another in rage. While the domestic violence charges were later dropped, the Judge issued a restraining order, which required Roy to refrain from alcohol and illegal drugs and possession of guns or weapons. He could not travel with the Avalanche to out of state games.
- In 2002, because Team Canada wouldn’t guarantee that he would be the starting goaltender, Roy told them to F-off and declined to join Canada’s Olympic team in Salt Lake City.
- In 2007, while head coach of the Quebec Remparts, he faced assault charges after going after and punching Chicoutimi Sagueneens owner Pierre Cardinal who was trying to disperse a crowd from around the Remparts’ bus after a game in Chicoutimi.
- In 2008, Roy gestured (on video) his own son Jonathan – a goalie – to go participate in a brawl. As a result, Jonathan Roy was suspended for seven games and fined $500, while Patrick Roy was suspended for five games and fined $4,000. The Quebec Ministry of Public Safety had launched a police investigation into the matter and Jonathan was charged with assault in Saguenay Courts.
- In 2016, knowing full well that the good coaches had all been hired by other teams, Roy waited to mid-August to hand his resignation to Joe Sakic and the Avalanche, leaving the franchise high and dry. He hasn’t found work in the NHL since, a case that’s not without reminding Habs’ fans of how he left them in 1995. It’s also reminiscent of a certain Ted Nolan, then head coach of the Buffalo Sabres, who had stabbed John Muckler (his GM) in the back and was black listed in the NHL thereafter.
So you think Patrick Roy is the right candidate to run the Montreal Canadiens? Again, it would be the single biggest mistake in team history since the firing of Serge Savard and Jacques Demers and the following hiring of a rookie GM (Réjean Houle) and coach (Mario Tremblay).
Roy is a loose canon who can blow up at any time. He has no control over his character as wires seem to touch in his brain from time to time, making him do crazy stuff, being uncontrollably irrational in his decision-making. Further, he has proven to be vindictive in at least a couple of occasions just at the NHL level alone. There’s a reason why he hasn’t found work in the NHL folks.
Drafting Logan Mailloux, a young player who made a serious mistake and was charged for it, is one thing: he was young, made a mistake, paid for it (and still is) but fans will get over it with time. Mistakes do happen, particularly at a young age. But hiring a grown man with multiple violence/assault charges, with a history of hot temper and quitting when he doesn’t get his way, would be a voluntary gesture that would be unforgivable for a franchise like the Canadiens.
More reading…
Agent Shuts Down Roy Rumours
Wind Of Change: Hearing A Ticking Sound
Time to Send Caufield And Pezzetta Down
