Memorial Cup: Patrick Roy's Final Games as Quebec Remparts Coach Begin with a Win

Patrick Roy is no stranger to hardware as a player and a coach. His Quebec Remparts won their first game at the Memorial Cup in an effort to get him a bit more.

As a player, he won three Vezina Trophies, three Conn Smythes and four Stanley Cups, among many other accolades. As a coach, he’s won a Jack Adams in the NHL as well as a QMJHL title. He won the Memorial Cup in his first year behind the bench with Quebec in the 2005-06 season as the QMJHL runner-up due to the champions hosting that tournament.

He’s done it all. So why would another Memorial Cup be so important to Roy and the Remparts? Because there may not be a more competitive person on the ice or behind the bench than Patrick Roy, and with this being his final run behind the bench in Quebec, going out on top of the junior hockey world would be exactly how he’d have it.

His team began their Memorial Cup with a massive 8-3 win over the host Kamloops Blazers. It was an up-and-down game with many momentum swings. Quebec did what they had to do to gut out a win in the tournament’s opening game.

After Kamloops rode the energy of the crowd to a 6-0 shot advantage in the first seven minutes of the game, the Remparts looked outmatched. Then, as is the case in hockey so often, one break and a good bounce changed everything for the Remparts.

With the Blazers once again pressuring, a pass to the high slot was bobbled, and Justin Robidas was off to the races. With a defender on his back, he marched to the net before cutting to the right and drawing the goaltender with him before passing back to the left, where James Malatesta was able to bury the game's first goal on Quebec’s first shot.

The lead wouldn’t last, though, as Kamloops tied it before the period was over. Creeping into the slot as Logan Stankoven curled behind the net, Stankoven found Caeden Bankier all alone for the tying goal on the power play. After the first period, the game was tied despite Kamloops largely outplaying the Quebec league champions.

Whatever it was that Roy said to the Remparts in the dressing room during the first intermission seemed to work, though. The Remparts came out looking like the team that lost just two games en route to their league title. They were playing faster and cleaner all around. Their passes were connecting, and the game seemed to be tilting.

Just over a minute into the frame, Malatesta struck again. The QMJHL playoff MVP deflected a point shot from the slot, chipping it just above the Kamloops netminder’s shoulder. Two minutes later, Nathan Gaucher unloaded a one-timer off the rush to give Quebec a two-goal lead. Then it was Quebec captain Theo Rochette getting on the board, burying a big rebound with a booming shot from the faceoff circle a couple of minutes after that.

With three goals in about five minutes, Quebec was in full control of the game. The teams traded goals in the final five minutes of the frame, but the three-goal lead for Quebec remained as the teams went back to the locker room.

The third period began, and Quebec began committing unforced errors, putting themselves in the penalty box. A kneeing penalty that was originally called a major before being reduced to a two-minute minor after review gave Kamloops a golden opportunity to get back into the game three minutes into the period.

Matthew Seminoff stepped into the shooting lane and deflected an Olen Zellweger shot by Quebec netminder William Rousseau to get Kamloops back on the board and within two goals. The play was looked at because it was right on the border of being a high-stick, but it was deemed good, and Kamloops seemed to be building momentum.

A double minor on Malatesta just over a minute after the Seminoff goal put the Blazers back on the power play. Despite their best efforts and some outstanding chances, Rousseau, along with the help of defenders laying out to block shots and a lucky bounce off the post, were able to hold the fort.

With 34 seconds left in the power play, disaster struck for the Blazers, and the game was essentially over. Robidas corraled an errant pass and broke up ice, this time feeding Kassim Gaudet to restore the three-goal lead. The shorthanded goal against all but ended the Kamloops Blazers’ opening night. Two more goals, including a Malatesta hat-trick goal eerily similar to the game’s opening marker, sealed it.

The Quebec Remparts not only won but did so in decisive fashion, crushing the hosts 8-3 in front of their home fans. Patrick Roy’s squad has now won 25 of their last 27 games, including 10 straight away from the Videotron Centre in Quebec City.

So we ask again, why is it so important for Roy, who's also the GM of the Remparts, to cap his tenure behind the bench with another Memorial Cup title?

“I’m very lucky. I have a very special group that are playing for us. Great leaders. It’s an honor for me to be able to coach these guys,” said Roy before the tournament began.

While the players are certainly putting their best foot forward for Roy in his final few games as their coach, Roy is doing everything he can to help them. If the dominant five-goal win over the hosts showed anything, it was that the fiery competitiveness that Roy has played and coached with for the last four decades is engrained in his squad.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.