Patrick Roy only met Jeff Gorton once, when he was in charge of the Colorado Avalanche, and the Canadiens new vice-president of hockey operations had made a good impression on him. The Quebecer assures that he would have no problem working with him.
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Their only meeting was through Alain Vigneault. The New Yprk Rangers were in Denver and the “Blueshirts” head coach at the time introduced Gorton to Roy.
“It seems to me a person passionate about hockey, for sure,” said the former number 33.
In recent days, many have questioned Roy’s candidacy, claiming that he would not be able to agree to work with a vice-president of hockey operations.
“I have always been a guy who likes to work in a team and who is ready to learn, listen and develop on the process to be set up with the team, he defended himself on Tuesday. I’ve been working with Jacques Tanguay for 14 years and I’ve never had any problems. We have an incredible staff with the Remparts [de Québec] and i never had any issues with them either. “
SOUVENIRS OF COLORADO
The concerns of some observers come mainly from the fact that Roy worked in a similar structure with the Avalanche. When he was hired in 2014, the club offered Roy the title of vice-president of hockey operations, in addition to that of head coach. He was then promised a right to review hockey decisions, while Joe Sakic held the roles of general manager and executive vice-president of hockey operations.
Finally, after three seasons behind the Avalanche bench, Roy had made the decision to leave the organization, in particular because he did not feel he had any real power over hockey decisions.
Despite everything, the former goalkeeper assured Tuesday that the relationship with his executive vice-president had gone well.
“I was a head coach. Even if I had wanted to sign contracts, do scouting, take care of the club-farm or go see players for transactions, I did not have the time to do that. I had a lot of it with my job as a head coach. “
What we can understand is that Roy would like to become general manager of the Canadiens as long as we guarantee him that he has free rein.
THE MOLSON TEAM
In this regard, he refuses to speculate on the importance of the role that Marc Bergevin’s successor will have, now that Jeff Gorton has been hired.
“I am not reading the situation because there is no reading to be done. Until the person meets Jeff Gorton, we don’t know what the role is exactly. [du prochain directeur général]. I was vice-president of hockey with the Avalanche, and I must say that in the end, it’s Joe [Sakic] who led and made the final decisions.
“I think the big boss with the Canadian is Geoff Molson again. He’s the one who pulls the strings and it’s his team. He may have abandoned certain tasks and now there will be two people who will make the decisions. “
Colorado Avalanche Organizational Chart for 2013-2014
- Stan Kroenke: Owner
- Josh Kroenke: President
- Joe Sakic: Executive Vice-President, Hockey Operations and General Manager
- Patrick Roy: Vice-President of Hockey Operations and Head Coach
- Craig Billington: Deputy General Director
- Pierre Lacroix: Senior consultant