Patrick Roy Doesn’t Fit What Vegas Needs In A Head Coach

Legendary netminder Patrick Roy might be available after resigning as Colorado’s Vice President and Head Coach. Roy’s departure was a complete shock to the organization and in many ways left the Avs speechless. Roy cited an internal problem between him and the Colorado hockey operations department, suggesting his voice wasn’t being heard.

While the news of this hit, some people weren’t surprised by Roy’s decision. He’s a successful hothead that works best when emotional and passionate. He played that way, and from the first time he graced the step behind the bench, he coached that way. Although let’s be serious, Roy the coach is not the Roy the goalie.

Moments after the news broke, rumors started to pour in. Did Roy resign for another job? Will Roy end up in Montreal? Will Roy be Las Vegas’s first coach?

First off, does anyone believe Roy resigned because he’s heading to Las Vegas? Ten months before he even has a player to coach? I know I sure don’t.

Secondly, is Roy even the type of coach The Creator wants to hire? I don’t believe that either.

Allow me to prove it to you. Here are a few reasons why Roy won’t be the first head coach in Las Vegas.

October 2nd, 2013: Roy makes his Head Coach debut in Colorado

After a blowout 6-1 victory over Anaheim to claim his first win as coach, Roy got himself fined $10,000 for losing his cool. The game was very chippy, and got out of hand when rookie Nate McKinnon took a hit by Ben Lovejoy. Colorado’s players got very upset, but not as upset as their coach. Roy started yelling at Anaheim players, then physically attacked the glass partition that separates both team benches. Bruce Boudreau had the best line of the night.

I told him that it’s bull, it’s bush league. He did what he did, but I mean it’s going in for a long year if he’s going to yell at every player and yell at the refs at every stoppage of play. It’s just not the way the game’s played. -Bruce Boudreau

February 6th, 2016: Roy loses it and screams in the face of referee

After losing a coach’s challenge and going down 3-1 to the Jets, Roy completely lost his mind. He got in the face of the game refs, who were trying to explain why Roy lost his challenge. This happens in every NHL game around the league, but Roy didn’t like the referees explanation. He lit in to the linesman and earned his team a 2-minute penalty kill. Not many coaches get minor penalties. I know it happened to Coach Q last year, but Q has three Cups. For a third year coach, it wasn’t the way a leader should act.

April 4th, 2016: Roy publicly airs his disgust of Matt Duchene’s 30th goal celebration during a 5-1 loss

Towards the end of a blowout loss to the St Louis Blues, sniper Matt Duchene tipped in his 30th goal and began to celebrate. Sure, a little unnecessary to celebrate but Duchene was excited to reach to the 30 goal milestone. If Roy took his star forward aside and gave him an earful that’s one thing, but the Avs coach handled it completely different. Instead, he used his postgame press conference to attack Duchene.

“The thing I have a bid of a hard time with is the reaction of Dutchy [Duchene] after he scored. It’s a 4-0 goal. Big cheer. Are you kidding me? -Patrick Roy

As exciting and emotional as Patrick Roy is, his act doesn’t fit a new organization like Las Vegas. The team wants to succeed but build along the way. If the team goes on a tough stretch, will Roy be pleasant to be around? Will his players want to hear all the yelling?

He’s just too volatile to bring in as the organizations first coach. Roy’s leadership needs improvement, his temper needs chill, and he needs to respect today’s players. Let him work on that elsewhere first. Although, I wouldn’t mind seeing Roy scream at some of the media in town after a tough loss.