Patrick Roy’s emotional return to Denver: Will ‘always’ have Avalanche in my heart

DENVER — Upon taking the ice at Ball Arena on Monday morning, Patrick Roy gave himself a moment to look up and take in the scene.

His No. 33 banner was still there. So were the banners commemorating the championships Roy helped the Avalanche win in 1996 and 2001, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy for the ’01 Stanley Cup run, when he allowed just one goal in Games 6 and 7 combined as Colorado overcame a 3-2 deficit to beat the Devils.

“I always have the Avs in my heart,” Roy said before the Islanders made it a return to remember with a 6-2 victory. “Same thing with the Montreal Canadiens and the Avs.

“… I texted Joe [Sakic] right after [Colorado won the 2022 Stanley Cup] to tell him how proud I am from seeing them winning that Stanley Cup. When you play here for all those years, the connection with the fans and the opportunity to wear that jersey night after night, it’s something we put a lot of pride in. We’re proud, also, to see the team and the organization doing so well.”

Roy arrived in Colorado in a blaze midway through the 1995-96 season after infamously demanding a trade from Montreal mid-game, then spent the rest of his career building a legacy with a franchise that once was the Canadiens’ biggest rival.

His first year coaching them, in 2013-14, felt to everyone like a successful homecoming as the Avalanche overachieved and Roy won the Jack Adams Award, given to the league’s best coach. Two years later, he suddenly resigned a month before camp, citing differences with Sakic, the general manager.

Eight years later, that’s still a sliding-doors moment for the Avalanche. The coach they hired to replace Roy, Jared Bednar, is still here — and joked Monday that he owes Roy a hug and a steak. Some of the stars Roy helped develop, namely Nathan MacKinnon (whom he pushed for the team to draft) and Gabriel Landeskog, were key parts of that 2023 title.

Though Roy said his focus Monday was still on the Islanders, it stood as a stark contrast to his Montreal return last February, when he refused to entertain question after question about being back at the Bell Centre.

Unlike in Montreal, though, when he appeared to get a little emotional after the Canadiens honored him before the game, Roy didn’t even notice when the Avalanche put him on their video board during the first TV timeout, albeit without a tribute video in accompaniment.

“I was focused on our game,” he said. “I was here to win a hockey game.”

Mat Barzal’s empty-net goal means he has now scored against all 31 other teams (counting Arizona and Utah as one franchise).