Colorado’s first and only King
Today (actually, yesterday by now) it was announced that on November 13, 2006, Patrick Roy, by almost all accounts the best goaltender in history, will be inducted into the National Hockey League Hall of Fame.
Photo from the Rocky Mountain News.
Over his illustrious 18-year career, Roy won four Stanley Cups, two with the Montreal Canadiens, and two with the Colorado Avalanche. During those runs he won three Conn Smythe (Playoff MVP) trophies, an NHL record. During his second Stanley Cup run in 1993, Roy won an NHL-record 10 straight playoff overtime games to bring the cup to Montreal for the second time in his career. In 1995, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche, where he won his third Stanley Cup in that same season.
Roy was one of the leading figures in the notorious rivalry between the Detroid Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche. In 1997, Roy fought Red Wings goalie Mike Vernon during a game late in the season. In 1998, Roy fought Wings goalie Chris Osgood. Mike Hanes, who called both fights on the radio, said at the time that Roy won them both…this is still disputed by many Wings fans.
During the 2000-2001 season, Patrick Roy lead the Avalanche to their second Stanley Cup just five years after moving to Colorado. That year, Roy won his third Conn Smythe and helped Ray Borque win his first ever Stanley Cup - after 18 fruitless years of being one of the best defensemen in the league.
Roy played his last NHL game with the Avalanche in 2003 in the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild. Then Wild right-winger Richard Park scored the last ever goal against Patrick Roy on April 22, in overtime in the seventh game of a first-round playoff series.
During his career, Roy won three Conn Smythe awards, five William M. Jennings trophies (given to goltenders whose teams have the league’s best goals-against number in the regular season), and three Vezina trophies (given to the league’s best goaltender as voted by the league’s General Managers). Roy played in the NHL All-Star game eleven times in his career, and was selected to the NHL’s All-Rookie team after his first year. Roy holds the NHL’s all-time record for most wins (551), and most playoff wins (151). During his career, he played in 1,029 regular season games, and 247 playoff games, placing him at the top of both lists all-time. On October 28, 2003, Roy’s number, 33, was retired by the Colorado Avalanche. Roy was the second player to have his number retired by the Avalanche, after Raymond Borque (77), who retired after the 2000-01 Stanley Cup-winning season. In 2004, Patrick Roy was selected to the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2005, the National Hockey League announced on their website that Patrick Roy was the best goaltender of all time.
Despite his temper and his tendancy to mis-handle the puck, Roy unequivocably deserves this honor. He will always be in the minds of Coloradan’s, as the man who brought the state its first national championship in any major sport, and a man who established himself as the leading figure of the best franchise in all of hockey for eight years. Among his achievements, perhaps what he should be most remembered for is the effect he had on Colorado hockey. He made the games exciting to watch, was at least partially responsible for the Avs’ incredible success, and was one of the reasons the Avs have sold out every game they’ve ever played at home. Now, three years after his retirement, Roy is still a legendary figure in Colorado, and the continuing devotion of Colorado hockey fans to the Avalanche can be attributed to him in the same way that two Stanley Cups can. Long live the King!
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