Roy won two Stanley Cups with the Avalanche as a player and a Jack Adams trophy as their head coach.
Roy won two Stanley Cups with the Avalanche as a player and a Jack Adams trophy as their head coach.
On Monday, Patrick Roy returns to Colorado for the first time since resigning as their head coach ahead of the 2016-17 season.
It will be a bittersweet moment for Avalanche fans, who watched Roy, as a player in the Mile High City, win two Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001 before seeing him win the Jack Adams award for Coach of the Year in 2013-14.
However, as we saw when Roy returned to Montreal last season, where he won two Stanley Cups as a player (1986, 1993), he'll only had one thing on his mind on Monday.
And that's getting the New York Islanders their first win of the 2024-25 regular season.
"Today is not about me," Roy said to a room of over 30 reporters in Montreal last season. "It's about our team. It's a four-point game. And this is where the focus has to be. And that's what I said to the guys tonight. We're coming, and whatever is going to happen before the game, I really want to make sure that we're ready when the puck drops."
When the media asked Roy why he was taking that approach to what was a special return, he spoke on respect.
"Because it's about our team. I love these guys," Roy said. "Like I said to them, I was very happy about the first time I met them and how receptive they have been. So they deserve my respect.
"We're talking about our mindset, and these guys are buying into what I'm trying, so my respect is very important to them."
Roy knew that the Bell Centre was packed with Roy fans from his playing days, and he was by no means trying to be disrespectful with his answers to the many questions.
"I am sorry. I just want to focus on our team," Roy said. "I think everybody in Montreal knows how much I love them and how much respect I have for this organization.
"But at the same time, we're here to win a hockey game."
The Islanders ended up losing in regulation, 4-3.
That game in Montreal was nine months ago, but Roy and the Islanders are in a similar situation.
Like last season, the Islanders struggled early in Roy's tenure, so collecting points was the sole objective to get back into the playoff race, which they ultimately did.
To start the 2024-25 season, the Islanders haven't been at their best. They dropped their season opener to the Utah Hockey Club, a 5-4 overtime loss, before getting shut out 3-0 by the Dallas Stars.
Roy's squad needs a win, and that's the only thing that truly matters to him when the puck drops at Ball Arena on Monday at 9 PM ET.