Colorado Avalanche coach Patrick Roy exceeded expectation in his NHL debut when his club beat the Anaheim Ducks, 6-1 on Wednesday night. While the win was a promising start to his tenure, his explosive behavior at the end of the contest is winning the headlines -- and the hearts of fans -- everywhere.
With Colorado already up by six, Anaheim defenseman Ben Lovejoy attempted a hit on Nathan MacKinnon that Roy believed should have been penalized as a knee-on-knee hit. The Ducks ended up scoring with seven seconds remaining in the contest and both clubs sent out their fourth lines for the ensuing faceoff, which ultimately resulted in a scrum.
That's when things got interesting.
Roy -- who was upset about Lovejoy's hit -- began yelling at the Ducks players from the Colorado bench. Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau was not pleased with that and began yelling at Roy, which then drew the fire of Saint Patrick:
Roy was given 12 minutes in penalties, which included a game misconduct and a bench minor. He explained post game that he sent out his fourth line because Boudreau did and that he didn't want to put out his first line against that kind of competition.
Boudreau explained that he didn't mind that Colorado sent out their fourth line but was upset that Roy was yelling at his players and told the coach he thought it was "bush league."
Could anything better have happened in Roy's first game back in the NHL? He developed a reputation as a wild card during his playing days and is considered one of the most entertaining personalities in hockey.
That appears to still be the case.
Anaheim and Colorado will meet again in March.
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