Patrick Roy only met Jeff Gorton once, when he was in charge of the Colorado Avalanche, and the new vice president of hockey operations in Canada had made a good impression on him. Quebec assures that he will have no problem working with him.
Their only meeting was through Alain Vigneault. The New York Rangers were in Denver and the Blueshirts’ coach at the time introduced Gorton to Roy.
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“He definitely seems to be a hockey fan,” said the former #33 player.
In recent days, many have questioned Roy’s nomination, claiming he would not be able to agree to work with the vice president of hockey operations.
“I have always been a guy who loves to work in a team and is ready to learn, listen and develop in the process that will be set up with the team, he stood up for himself on Tuesday. I have been working with Jack Tangway for 14 years and have never had any problems. We have a great team working with Remparts [de Québec] And I didn’t have any problems with them either. “
Some observers’ concerns come mainly from the fact that Roy worked in a similar structure with the avalanche. When he was appointed in 2014, the club offered Roy the title of vice president of hockey operations, as well as the position of technical director. He was then promised the right to oversee hockey decisions, while Joe Sakic filled the roles of general manager and executive vice president of hockey operations.
Finally, after three seasons behind the Avalanche seat, Roy made the decision to leave the organization, especially because he didn’t feel he had any real power over hockey decisions.
Despite everything, the former goalkeeper confirmed, Tuesday, that the relationship with the executive vice president went well.
“I was a head coach. Even if I wanted to sign contracts, do scouts, look after the club’s farm or go see the players for transactions, I didn’t have the time to do that. I had a lot of that with my job as head coach.”
What we can understand is that Roy would like to become the General Manager of Canadians as long as he is guaranteed to have unleashed on him.
In this regard, he refuses to speculate on the importance of the role that will be played by the successor of Mark Bergivian, after Jeff Gorton has been appointed.
“I don’t read 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 the vice president of hockey with avalanche, and I have to 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 Jeff Molson again. He’s the guy who’s running the strings and he’s his team. He might have given up on certain assignments and now there’s going to be two people who are going to make the decisions.”
Stan Kroenke: owner
Josh Kroenke: President
Joe Sakic: Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations and General Manager
Patrick Roy: Vice President of Hockey Operations and Head Coach
Craig Billington: Deputy General Manager
Pierre Lacroix: Senior Consultant
Listen to Jean-François Barel Lacroix’s column at Philippe Vincent Foissy’s microphone on QUB Radio: