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Patrick Roy: the perfect coach for the Columbus youth group

For several weeks and even months now, Patrick Roy’s name has been circulating around the National Hockey League.

And why?

Well, for two reasons.

Firstly, because he led the Quebec Remparts to an excellent season, winning the QMJHL championship and taking his team to the Memorial Cup final.

The final will take place on Sunday.

This magnificent season has obviously attracted the attention of several NHL teams looking for a new head coach for next season.

This leads to the second reason, which is simply that many NHL teams are currently looking for a new general manager and/or head coach.

Rumours are rife, including those surrounding Patrick Roy’s potential return to the NHL.

And right now, if there’s one team with strong ties to Roy, it’s the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Indeed, several informants claim that Roy’s name is very high on the Blue Jackets’ list.

This leads us to think about the potential fit between Roy and Columbus.

Well, according to Mathias Brunet, Roy would be the perfect coach for the Blue Jackets’ youth group.

That’s what the sports journalist said earlier today on BPM Sports with Bob Hartley.

And when you take a closer look at the situation, you can really understand Mathias Brunet’s words.

Columbus is a team with a good group of young players that will continue to solidify and improve, including the prospect drafted 3rd overall in this year’s draft.

Well, Patrick Roy knows all about young players.

The former Montreal Canadiens goaltender has spent the last 26 years of his life working in the QMJHL.

He started out as owner and vice-president, and later became general manager and head coach of the Québec Remparts.

He is currently GM and head coach of the Quebec Remparts.

The other element that makes the connection between Roy and Columbus easy is that the Blue Jackets find themselves in a situation very similar to that of the Colorado Avalanche in 2014, some time after Roy’s arrival at the team’s helm.

Indeed, the Avalanche were more of a bottom-of-the-barrel team that relied on several young players who represented the future of the franchise.

Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly and Gabriel Landeskog were all young players at the time, while Nathan MacKinnon was still making his NHL debut.

In short, Roy knows all about young players, and he likes them too.

It’s easy to see why Columbus has Roy high on its list of candidates, given that they want their youngsters to be in good hands.

Bob Hartley wonders why the New York Rangers, who are currently looking for a head coach, don’t have Patrick Roy at the top of their list.

The former NHL coach believes that Roy would be a better fit with a team like the Rangers, which is aspiring to the big time right now, than with the Blue Jackets, a bottom-tier team that won’t be winning the Stanley Cup anytime soon.

It would be a nice challenge for Roy to take over the coaching job in Columbus, but according to Hartley, “Casseau” doesn’t need any more challenges, he wants to win.

It remains to be seen what’s next for Patrick Roy, who is currently focused on the Memorial Cup final this Sunday.

After that, things could accelerate with regard to his potential return to the NHL.


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