In the last few weeks, Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy claimed he hadn't discussed being a head coach with the Colorado Avalanche, before revising that to say he hadn't received a "formal offer" from the team, before the French-language press blew the doors off the story by claiming the current coach of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was in fact offered the head coaching and general manager's jobs in Colorado.
Sadly, the tantalizing notion of a fiery ex-player having total control over a franchise in freefall appears to have been dispelled.
Adrian Dater of the Denver Post, who's been on this story like J.O.E Daking on a hip-hop jam, reports that St. Patrick will not ascend to the mountainous heaven of Denver:
After two weeks of intensive deliberation, Patrick Roy has decided not to coach the Avalanche. Late Tuesday night, Roy phoned Avalanche president Pierre Lacroix to tell him that, because of family reasons, Roy will not accept the Avs' offer to coach the team this coming season.
Roy will continue with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but said the door is not shut at his returning to the Avs at some point in the future. Roy confirmed he had an offer to coach the team, but whether there was an offer to have the vacant general manager's job as well was not addressed.
Roy's three children - Jonathan, Frederick and Jana - are starting various new ventures in their lives, he said, and felt it was important for him to be closer to them, physically and spiritually.
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Dater reports that Jonathan Roy will continue his music career when he isn't earning massive suspensions for pummeling opposing goaltenders, and Frederick Roy is going to be an actor in Santa Monica. No word one what Brooke Hogan Jana is doing.
Flanked by the right assistants, Roy could have worked as an out-of-the-box NHL coaching option for the Avs. At the very least, he would have injected a new spirit into a franchise that's gone from Cup contention to moribund rather quickly. He also wouldn't have settled for Peter Budaj and Andrew Raycroft between the pipes. Not for a minute.
When word leaked that Roy might run the whole show ... well, what in the name of Garth Snow was that about? The Avalanche don't need The Avalanche need a good hockey man with some fresh ideas on how to transition a team from a staid ideology and collection of veteran personnel to something more vital. Unfortunately, that guy was just hired by the Minnesota Wild ...
So no Patrick Roy for the Avalanche next season. We can put that to bed, and start thinking about more pressing matters; like whether or not Colorado "Head Coach" Tony Granato's silence during this ordeal was due to hush money, having his professional dignity dragged through raw sewage or utter shock that rendered him speechless.
