Yahoo Sport 
Our five favorite things from Patrick Roy's time as Avalanche coach
Patrick Roy’s three-season tenure as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche came to an abrupt end on Thursday when he announced he was resigning with one year left on his contract.
It was a three-year run that saw the Avalanche go from a 112-point Central Division-winning team to one with back-to-back playoff-less campaigns.
Roy, a colorful character and 2014 Jack Adams Award winner, wore his heart on his sleeve and said what was on his mind. Despite the poor hockey being played on the ice, there was gold coming from the head coach on many occasions. Remember this one? Or this one?
Here are five of our favorite things from Patrick Roy’s time as Avalanche head coach.
1. Patrick Roy will pull his goalie when he damn well pleases
He wasn’t the first head coach to do it, but boy did he ever enjoy pulling his goalie with tons of time left on the clock. Most hockey coaches when they’re down a goal or two will swap their netminder for an extra attacker when there’s less than two minutes remaining. Not Roy, who got creative in attempting to give his team a jolt.
There were multiple occasions where Roy wanted to be aggressive and pulled his goalie with third periods barely half over and his Avs teams trailing. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes not so much.
2. That time Patrick Roy almost served as backup goalie
While many NHL teams keep a local netminder on file in case of an emergency situation, the Avalanche had a Hockey Hall of Fame goalie behind their bench. So one day during practice in San Jose the head coach had to put the pads on. With Semyon Varlamov back in Denver for the start of his civil trial, Calvin Pickard and Roman Will were set to take the nets ahead of their game against the Sharks.
There was almost a big problem. You see, Pickard was under the weather, so with Will in one net Roy suited up in the other. That led to some fun thinking that No. 33 could be back in an Avalanche uniform. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be as the head coach informed the media after practice that Pickard would be healthy enough to play that night, thus crushing our dreams and keeping a comeback relegated to an alumni game appearance a month later.
3. Patrick Roy does not enjoy Matt Duchene celebrating a goal
Down 4-1 in an April game against the St. Louis Blues, Duchene ended the shutout bid by potting his 30th of the season, the first time he reached the mark in his NHL career. He celebrated just a tad too much for Roy’s liking.
“The thing I have a hard time with is the reaction of Duchy after his scores. It’s a 4-0 goal. Big cheer. Are you kidding me? What is that?,” Roy said afterward. “I mean, it’s not the reflect that we want from our guys. Not at all.”
Roy is no fan of advanced stats and it showed in his team’s performances. After an outstanding first season, everyone but Roy could see the Avs were going to regress, and they did. Over his three seasons coaching in Colorado they posted a 44.74-percent Corsi, good for 29th overall. Only the Buffalo Sabres were worse in the possession department.
“And I don’t think it’s because of the number of shots that we’re giving, it’s the number of shots we’re not taking,” he said in October in reference to his team’s early season performance. “For instance, if you looking at Corsi … the part I don’t like about the Corsi is that you could shoot from the red line, or you could shoot from a terrible angle, and your Corsi will look good. Puck possession has nothing to do [with it]. Fenway, there’s a bit of puck possession in there, but it’s more like shot attempts. If a guy shoots from the red line, it’s a shot attempt.”
5. Patrick Roy went after Bruce Boudreau in his NHL coaching debut
Roy’s very first game behind the bench for the Avalanche went swimmingly. Colorado plastered the Anaheim Ducks 6-1 in the season opener, but late in the third period Ben Lovejoy laid a bad hit on No. 1 overall pick Nathan MacKinnon. Emotions ran high on the ice during the final face-off and Roy became incensed, offering some choice words toward Corey Perry before Boudreau came over and got involved. It was then that Roy tried to break down the Plexiglas barrier between the benches.
“A coach has no right to start yapping at players. I told him its bush league,” said Boudreau.
What will you remember most from the Patrick Roy’s Avalanche coaching years?
– – – – – – –
Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
