Patrick Roy Resigns From Avalanche

After three years at the helm for the Colorado Avalanche, head coach Patrick Roy says he’s leaving the team.

Roy said in a statement Thursday that he didn’t have enough of a “say in the decisions that impact the team’s performance.”

“For the past three years, I have carried out my duties as Head Coach and Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Colorado Avalanche with energy, passion and determination,” the statement reads.

“I have thought long and hard over the course of the summer about how I might improve this team to give it the depth it needs and bring it to a higher level. To achieve this, the vision of the coach and VP-Hockey Operations needs to be perfectly aligned with that of the organization. He must also have a say in the decisions that impact the team’s performance. These conditions are not currently met.

Today, I am informing you of my decision to leave the Colorado Avalanche organization. Though it saddens me, I have put much thought about this decision in recent weeks and have come to be fully comfortable with it.

I am grateful to the Colorado Avalanche organization, with which I remain in good terms, for letting me lead this great team. I thank all the players I have had the pleasure of coaching and the fans for their unwavering, unconditional support.

I remain forever loyal to the Avalanche with which I played 478 games, coached another 253, and won two Stanley Cups.”

The best season of his three-year stint was the first, in which he led the Avalanche to a first-place finish and earned a Coach of the Year nod. Roy also won two Stanley Cup titles playing goal keeper for the Avalanche.