When Patrick Roy, whose passion for hockey burns intensely in his steely blue eyes, was named coach of the Avalanche two years ago, I never thought the day would arrive when this was the question that had to be asked:
Does Roy need to be tougher on players?
"I could be tougher. But for what?" Roy replied, fixing me in the sights of those same steely blue eyes that stared down more than 30,000 saves during two decades as a Hall of Fame goalie.
After a tremendous rookie campaign on the bench that saw Roy saluted as the NHL's best coach and Colorado finish first in the Central Division, what did the Avs do for an encore?