Patrick Roy’s move to Colorado began with one of the ugliest nights of his career, and it ended with the Avalanche landing the kind of goaltender who can flip a franchise.
On Dec. 2, 1995, Roy was in net for the Montreal Canadiens against the Detroit Red Wings at the Montreal Forum.
The night got away fast. Detroit scored nine goals before Canadiens coach Mario Tremblay pulled Roy in an 11-1 loss.
Roy did not take that lightly. He skated past Tremblay, went to team president Ronald Corey and told him he had played his final game in Montreal.
Four days later, that was no longer just anger talking.
On Dec. 6, 1995, Colorado acquired Roy and forward Mike Keane from Montreal in exchange for goaltender Jocelyn Thibault and forwards Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko.
It was a massive trade, but Roy was not some goalie trying to rediscover himself. He was already one of the great playoff performers in NHL history, with Stanley Cup titles in 1986 and 1993 and Conn Smythe Trophies in both of those runs.
That made him exactly the piece the Avalanche were missing. Colorado already had a strong core in place in its first season in the state: Joe Sakic at center, Peter Forsberg emerging into a superstar, and Claude Lemieux bringing scoring and edge.
What they needed was a goaltender who could carry that group through the postseason. Roy stepped into that role almost immediately.
The Avalanche wrapped up the 1995-96 regular season with 104 points, then handled the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks in the playoffs before meeting the Red Wings in the Western Conference Final. Yes, those Red Wings - the same team that had hung nine goals on Roy in Montreal a few months earlier. To borrow Ed Rooney’s line from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: nine times.
This time, Roy had the last laugh. Colorado beat Detroit in six games, then swept the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. The Avalanche were champions in their first season in Denver, and Roy collected his third Stanley Cup.
He would add a fourth and final title five years later, before retiring in 2003. By then, Roy had built a resume that placed him among the most successful goaltenders the sport has ever seen.
His arrival also helped turn Colorado into one of the NHL’s premier organizations. One coach’s decision in Montreal cost the Canadiens a franchise goaltender - and gave the Avalanche one.
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Wild coach John Hynes said Sturm was still being evaluated after the incident and would not travel with the team to Winnipeg for its next game. For Colorado fans who remember Sturm as one of the depth pieces in that title run, the immediate concern now is his condition and how long he might be sidelined after such a scary in-game moment. [Read more 🡒]