Colorado Avalanche

Adrian Dater reports, that Stephane Roy's, Patrick Roy's brother, has said that Roy (Patrick, not Stephane) is going to be the next coach of the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs, for their part, are not commenting on it because the organization looked deep into Medusa's eyes years ago rendering them incapable of commenting on anything. I have mixed feelings on whether or not Patrick Roy will be a good head coach. I have mixed feelings about legends coming back to coach the team they achieved greatness with. I just have no idea what kind of coach Roy will be. The good news is that I think coaches generally get too much credit and too much blame for their teams' success and failure so I don't think it's as big of a deal (on the ice) as some people. Where I have the most concerns is that I haven't heard of them even interviewing another candidate yet. It's possible they have (they are notoriously secretive) but Dallas Eakins (Toronto Marlies) & Tippett (still Phoenix Coyotes), at least, are both unavailable for interview, so the Avs clearly have not even vetted them yet. Lindy Ruff is, but a high profile coach like that would have likely garnered a report somewhere. Same with a guy like Guy Carbonneau. Now maybe Roy is the first guy that has been brought in to interview, and is the early favorite to boot, and this is the first step in an truly exhaustive coaching search. In which case this is all just good fun rostercoacherbation. I hope this is the case, and there are leaks about other interviews. If the job goes to roy after that, then that's great news. But, as of right now, it has a whiff of the Avs business as usual: not doing their due diligence or doing a full search for a coach. In 2008 Tony Granato was hired after no coaching search what so ever. Here's what I wrote about it then: In fact I have nothing against Granato (we'll get to that in a minute), it was the way in which the search played out that really bothers me. The Avs didn't even bring Dineen, McLellan, or Burns in for a courtesy interview. Is Granato, mastermind of the kitten-killing powerplay, really that impressive that he deserves to be hired before even talking to qualified candidates? He may end up being a fine coach, but then again Kineen, McLellan may too, and waiting for an interview with either candidate certainly certainly would have done no harm. Both are promising young coaches and to not even give them the light of day is really unacceptable. Then Granato flamed out spectacularly, in one of the worst Avs seasons of all time, and GM Francois Giguere was fired, Granato was fired, and Joe Sacco was hired the day after the GM was hired (meaning Sherman had little to no choice in his own coach). I wrote a more profanity laced post that essentially said the same thing: Well Pierre Lacroix has clearly gone insane. Today it was revealed that he is promoting an unproven, and some could make the argument an unsuccessful, coach from within the orginization to run the team without even bothering to do a token search for someone who might actually have soem hockey knowledge and happens to be working within a different organization. Somehow promoting this greenhorn, who has very little success as a coach, is going to turn the Avs into contenders. After Joe Sacco was fired this year Terry Frei, probably the most astute and well informed Avs observer there is, wrote an excellent column in which this he seems nearly prophetic with a single line: No coaching search can be credible until the direction of the organization and the future makeup of the front office is clear. Can a credible coaching search consist of one candidate? Maybe this cynicism is a bit alienating, but this is the third time I've written a variation of this post in the last 5 years. Over that time the Avs have more top-5 draft picks than playoff wins. They have been at or near the bottom in total salary. The front office shake-up was supposed to change things, but the very early first in

PREDICTION: Breaking news co-opts this thread today. ;) Failing that, #4 Boston Bruins at #6 New York Rangers (2-0 BOS) 7:30 Eastern, NBC Sports, TSN, RDS The Bruins won Game 2 by a deceptive 5-2 score. The game was even, with some of the best back and forth action of the conference semis, through 40 minutes of play. The Bruins have been pleasantly surprised with the services of rookie defenseman Torey Krug, who was signed out of college undrafted and has put up 2G 1A in 2 games of fill-in duty since Andrew Ference and Dennis Seidenberg went down for Boston. Kid's got hands and wheels, hits like a truck, and is all of 5 foot 9. His sample is smaller than he is, but he's a pretty cool story, bro, and I like to watch him. Shame he's a Bruin. #5 Los Angeles Kings at #6 San Jose Sharks (2-1 LAK) 10:00 Eastern, same Bat-channels And then there's this series, which has been the most consistently exciting of the round. In Game 2, LA won in the dying seconds of regulation by scoring twice from a 5-on-3. In Game 3, it was San Jose who earned a 5 on 3 that carried over into OT. Logan Couture was the hero, despite him being injured and "questionable" to return earlier in the game. Jonathan Quick was so distraught he earned a game misconduct for saying the word the Knights of Stripes could not hear. In case you're not keeping track of #fancystats like I am that puts San Jose in the lead for Most Game Misconducts Drawn After The Conclusion Of Overtime (2).

The Tyler Bozak was out with an injury during Game 6 and 7. Tyler Bozak revealed it was a triceps tear suffered at the end of Game 5 that kept him out of the final two games of the first-round. But despite participating in the Game 6 warm-up, there was no chance of him actually returning to the lineup. “I could barely even hold my stick out there for that,” said Bozak, who added the injury is unrelated to the oblique tear he suffered at the end of the regular season, and would require about a month to heal. The Memorial Cup is happening. “I know those guys pretty well and they’re great guys and awesome hockey players,” said Domi, who is ranked at No. 19 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. “We’re just worried about how the London Knights play and not really anything else to be honest. We focus on ourselves and the team and let the rest take care of itself.” Knights teammate Bo Horvat, who is ranked 15th, says that although the draft is never completely out of his mind, the goal in Saskatoon is to win the CHL title. So... Marc Crawford as a coach of the Colorado Avalanche? In Colorado, rumor has it Marc Crawford is interested in returning to the place where he won a Stanley Cup in 1996. Crawford coached this past season in Switzerland and word is he’d entertain a return to the NHL. How interested Joe Sakic is in hiring Crawford is the unknown. Word is Sakic and Tippett also have a very good relationship.

The news trickled through social media tonight that Patrick Roy's brother Stephane had posted the following on his Facebook wall: For all my friends I'd like you to know before the official news spreads that my older brother will be the new coach of the Colorado Avalanch. Adrian Dater is now reporting he has spoken with Stephane via telephone, who confirmed that Patrick and the Avs are hammering out the final details of an agreement. So there's the tenuous, waffling story. Dater is reporting that Stephane Roy is reporting that Patrick Roy is going to be the next head coach, but no one else will confirm anything. Naturally the Avalanche wouldn't comment, and Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy were unavailable. That's kinda how these things go--and should go--until the team is ready to make the announcement. Keep an eye on this space to evolve as details emerge, but unless a fake Stephane Roy is Teo'ing all of us, this looks like the real deal.

According to a Puck Daddy post, Patty Roy is back. ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY According to a Puck Daddy post, Patty Roy is back. ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY ROY

I just want to take a quick moment to send thoughts and prayers out to those affected by the tornado today in Oklahoma. Sadly, we see tragedies like this - both natural and man-made - far too often. Although we usually stick to hockey here, the devastation in Moore hits particularly close to home as that is where Mike and Mrs @ MHH live. Thankfully, Mike, Jessie and the boys are okay and we are all extremely thankful for that. However, many from their city were not so fortunate. For those readers in a position to help out, here is a link to some relief funds. Thank you for listening.

We had our first multiple-overtime game last night! Colin Greening was the hero for Ottawa. Only one game on the schedule tonight though. #1 Chicago Blackhawks at #7 detroit red wings (1-1) 7:30 Eastern, NBC Sports, CBC, RDS Henrik Zetterberg and Patrick Sharp lead their respective teams with 10 points apiece, albeit Zetterberg's in two additional games. Chicago played pretty poorly in Game 2. The NHL.com preview says Chicago's 20 shots on goal in Game 2 was its least in a Stanley Cup Playoff game since April 27, 2009. Holy shit.

Another broken, but full, day of hockey ahead of us today as the Eastern Conference semis get their showcase. In random news, the San Jose Sharks were fined $100,000 yesterday for publicly whining about the Raffi Torres suspension less than 48 hours after the decision ($25k) somehow "inappropriately" ($75k). If you were keeping track at home that's $25k for breaking a rule they knew fully about and $75k for thoughtcrime. #6 New York Rangers at #4 Boston Bruins (1-0 BOS) 3:00 Eastern, NBC, TSN, RDS Game 1 of this one went into overtime, because of course it did. The Bruins won, because of course they did, on a Brad Marchand goal. Boston is 3-0 in overtime this postseason. Meanwhile New York is still looking for a goal from Rick Nash, who does have 3 assists. #1 Pittsburgh Penguins at #7 Ottawa Senators (2-0 PIT) 7:30 Eastern, NBC Sports, CBC, RDS The Penguins have started firing on all cylinders, including a Sidney Crosby hat trick and chasing Craig Anderson, and still have been relying on the services of Tomas Vokoun (.945 SV% through 4 games). Anderson was outstanding in the conference quarters against Montreal but has dipped to a Nabokovian .865 SV% so far in the semis. Ottawa looks to get Jason Spezza back tonight. He hasn't played since late January so look for him to be eased into the lineup by Jack Adams nominee Paul McLean, meaning he'll probably play 24 minutes.

Today we've got an early game and a late game. Nothing in between. #7 detroit red wings at #1 Chicago Blackhawks (1-0 CHI) 1:00 Eastern, NBC, CBC Game 1 of this one was pretty fuckin dull. Here's hoping Amway's team comes out with some desperation and makes a game out of it this afternoon. #5 Los Angeles Kings at #6 San Jose Sharks (2-0 LAK) 9:00 Eastern, NBC Sports, TSN, RDS Now here's one that's gotten good. LA jumped out to a 2-0 lead in Game 2, at which point Dater tweeted that despite the Sharks starting to out play them, they had this in the bag. Then San Jose scored three unanswered to lead 3-2, and Dater apologized to Kings fans for the jinx. Minutes later, as the game wound down, San Jose took a bad penalty (hooking, I think) and a penalty that is bad (super borderline puck over the glass) to go down two men. LA would score twice in 22 seconds to win 4-3. The Dater Jinx is alive and well, and also this series is pretty exciting now, and also fuck the puck over the glass penalty in that situation. Jeez. Poll Go: Sharks Kings Home 1 votes | Results

As the Colorado Avalanche count the days until the June 30th draft, there is likely to be many within the organization focused on the city of Saskatoon over the next few days. There, the hometown Saskatoon Blades (WHL) prepare to host the 2013 Memorial Cup, which starts tonight. The annual Memorial Cup tournament features a host team, along with the playoff champions from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and the Western Hockey League. Joining the Blades are the Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL), London Knights (OHL), and the Portland Winterhawks (WHL). Saskatoon Blades Host Saskatoon features Avs 2011 first round pick Duncan Siemens. The defenseman suited up for 70 regular season games for the Blades with three goals and 29 assists; to go along with a plus 31 rating. It was an inauspicious start for Siemens and the Blades as the Alberta native was stripped of his captaincy in the early part of the season. Despite the apparent distraction, the club finished second in the Eastern Conference behind the Edmonton Oil Kings. The highlight of the season was an 18 game winning streak. Despite the strong finish, the club was swept in the opening round of the WHL playoffs by the Medicine Hat Tigers. How rusty can a team be? The Saskatoon Blades have not played in a game for nearly two months. Portland Winterhawks The focus of Avalanche fans during the Memorial Cup will be on defenseman Seth Jones. His Portland Winterhawks compiled the best record during the regular season with 57 wins. Jones had 14 goals and 42 assists in 61 games; garnering WHL Rookie of the Year honors. A couple of other interesting Winterhawks are Troy Rutkowski and Ty Rattie. Rutkowski was drafted by the Avs in the fifth round of the 2010 draft. He and the Avalanche could not come to terms on a contract last spring and the defenseman became a free agent. He signed a three-year entry level contract with the Ottawa Senators in March. The overager led all Portland defenders in scoring with 66 points. Ty Rattie is a name Avs fans are familiar as he was selected by the Blues in the second round of the 2011 draft with the pick that St. Louis obtained from Colorado as part of the blockbuster Erik Johnson trade. He was recently named MVP of the WHL Championship Series and had 36 points in 21 post-season games. Halifax Mooseheads The two players most often mentioned in the same sentence as Seth Jones to be potentially selected first overall in the June draft are Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin. The diminutive Drouin tore up the QMJHL with 105 points in 49 games during the regular season. Nathan MacKinnon finished with 75 points in 44 games for the Mooseheads. The duo continued to fire on all cylinders in the post-season. Drouin and MacKinnon were first and third respectively in playoff scoring. The Mooseheads dominated through the playoffs losing only once all post-season. Will their strong play continue? London Knights Max Domi may not be receiving as much hype as some of the other prospects entering the Memorial Cup, but he carved himself out a fine season with the London Knights. He was the top playoff scorer for the OHL champion Knights with 32 points in 21 games. London compiled the top record during the regular season, producing 50 wins. The team won a gritty seven game series over the Barrie Colts to secure their bid to the Memorial Cup. Schedule Friday, May 17 -- London vs Saskatoon -- 6:00 PM MST Saturday, May 18 -- Portland vs Halifax -- 5:00 PM MST Sunday, May 19 -- Saskatoon vs Halifax -- 5:00 PM MST Monday, May 20 -- Portland vs London -- 6:00 PM MST Tuesday, May 21 -- Halifax vs London -- 6:00 PM MST Wednesday, May 22 -- Saskatoon vs Portland -- 6:00 PM MST Broadcast The Memorial Cup is available to Canadian viewers live on Sportsnet. US viewers will also have an opportunity to watch the event on the NHL Network; sadly the games will be tape delayed.