Patrick Roy is brutally honest. If there’s one thing you need to know about the Avalanche head coach, that’s it.
Over the last few weeks, Roy has been criticized for continuing to finding the light amidst a very gloomy season. But when he says that he likes where the defense is going or that the team is just one or two breaks away from being in a much better position, he means it.
And this morning, when Roy jumped on the Fan Morning Show to talk hockey, he explained why he remains so positive, and why he’s so frustrated with the fans and media that say he needs to be harsher on his players.
While there aren’t many people more honest than Roy, let’s breakdown what he had to saye in this version of Read Between the Lines:
On Being Too Positive
“I know that a lot of our fans are critical on me because I try to be to positive, and surely would like for me to be tougher on our players. But at the same time … I don’t feel like we’re that far. Unfortunately for us, every time there’s something different that gives up.”
This is exactly what we talked about yesterday. Not only are the Avalanche losing, but they seem lost. Sure, there’s something they’re doing well any one night, but there’s three other things they’re doing wrong. And the next night, when they improve on whatever it was they were doing wrong, they can no longer do what they did right the night before.
There’s no rhyme or reason to it, and I can understand why Roy remains positive; there are positives. But at the same time, if the Avs can never put a whole game together, in the end, there are no positives.
On Not Criticizing The Penalty Kill
“It’s hard for me to go after — you know, PK was No. 1 in the league — and I’m going to go out there and bash the PK? I mean, come on. These guys have blocked a lot of shots; these guys have been very good. Unfortunately they had a tough night.”
Roy’s right. There’s no reason why he should stand up at that post-game podium and bash the team because of their performance on the penalty kill; they’ve been one of the league’s best for the last year and a half.
But that doesn’t mean he should defend it, either.
The fact of the matter is that if the Avalanche aren’t winning games, then they’re not doing anything well enough. You can’t afford to give up three goals on the power play — ever. You can feel as good as you want about your five-on-five play, but at the end of the day, the Avs lost.
I think what’s making fans angry is that it doesn’t seem like Roy is holding his team accountable; when they do something poorly, he praises what they did right. Now, maybe he’s speaking a different tone inside team meetings and during practice, but that doesn’t change the fact that fans want answers, too.
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[adrotate banner=”9″]On Why They Need To Be Positive
“We need to be positive. We need to allow our players to get their confidence back. Sh**ting on players won’t help them get their confidence back faster. … I showed my players yesterday that I’m not going to panic as a coach.”
Maybe it is all just a matter of a few more breaks going the Colorado Avalanche’s way. But that’s not something any of us can predict. All I know is that things seem to be getting worse, not better.
And listen, I understand that no coach wants to go up to the podium and rip his players to shreds, but I don’t think that’s what the fans are asking him to do. All they’re asking is for Roy to stop acting like there are so many positives to be taken out of four straight losses.
On Wanting To Win
“The people that know me know how much I like to win. They know even more how much I hate to lose. You think I wake up in morning and enjoy going to the rink and losing? Nobody does that. We’re a proud people. We love to win, and our players are too.”
I know Patrick Roy wants to win just about as much as anybody, but I’ll say this much:
He’s in a tough position. His team is losing, and I’m not so sure that it has anything to do with him. But if he thinks he can continue to praise the positives while the Avs keeps losing and the fans keep getting angrier, then don’t be surprised if people continue to question how much you care about winning.