A few news updates

Firstly, the jersey auction closed last week, and Carbo's last gamer (at least, the last one to be made available on the market) sold for $1378.50 before hammer fee and shipping.  Congrats to the winner -- you picked up a real gem!

Also last week, Patrick Roy was appointed head coach and vice-president of  hockey operations for the Colorado Avalanche.  Guy shared his thoughts on Roy with the Montreal Gazette:

Did he see Roy as a future coach when they were teammates? “Not as much as anybody thought that I would be a coach. It’s not something you really think about when you start your career and you’re playing hockey. But we travelled a lot together and we talked a lot about how the game is played and how to get around things and I think that’s something that we always enjoyed together.”

On Roy’s coaching career: “I think he did it a lot differently than most of us did. He went back in junior in Quebec City … not only was he a coach, but he was a GM, an owner … all those things together. He gained a lot of experience doing all of those little things.”

His advice for Roy: ”My advice to him … I think he’s already there. He’s well-prepared, he’s proved that in the past. I think expectation has to be fair. I think everybody wants to win quickly … I wouldn’t say it’s impossible, but it happens once in a while. But to understand what kind of team you have and what they can do. Too often a coach has a style and doesn’t have the players to play that style or has the players to play one kind of style and the coach doesn’t want to play that style. I think you really have to understand what kind of team you have and try to mould part of the system around it.”

On the adjustment from being a player to a coach: ”I always said that playing was the easiest thing ever. You get told when to show up to the rink, what time you need to get dressed, what time you get to go on the ice, what kind of drills you need to do, where you go for the drills, when to get off the ice. All those things are done for you, so you don’t really have to think about anything else than just get yourself prepared and show up for the game and play.

“As a coach, you have 22, 23 sometimes more players and you have to take care of a lot of things … travelling sometimes, practices … and players are human beings. They have their own problems … family problems, all those things … sickness, injuries. But it’s something that for him he saw every day, but at a different level. So it’s not going to be anything new to him, but he’s going to have to be patient and learn from the mistakes he makes. He was a great player, he was a good coach in junior, but he’s going to make mistakes … everybody does. It’s how you react to those mistakes.”

On whether he might get a call from Roy offering an assistant coach job: “I have no idea. I haven’t talked to him …. It’s up to him. He’s got control of who he wants to have around him (as vice-president of hockey operations). He’s going to have his reasons like I had when I was a coach here. I knew what I wanted around me and that’s what I got. I don’t know what he wants.”

On Roy’s infamous temper: ”They said the same thing about me, they said the same thing about Michel Bergeon, they said the same thing about Pat Burns … everybody has a temper. You have to have a temper … if you don’t have a temper, get out of there. If you don’t have temper that means you accept to fail … at one point you have to put your foot down and shake some things. He was like that when he was a player and he was successful. He was like that when he was a coach in junior and was successful. He might have to adjust a little bit, but I don’t think he has to change anything. Whatever worked in the past should work in the future … that’s why they hired him.”

On Roy adjusting to his new job: “He’s going to have a chance to meet with the players during the summer and talk to them, whether it’s on the phone or face to face, and learn a little bit more about them and they’re going to learn a little bit more about him. But I think once everybody is together for Day 1 of training camp and that first speech and that first practice he’s going to be well prepared.”

His favourite Roy story: “I have a lot of them. … We won two Cups together and we travelled every day together to the rink because we lived really close to each other. We had to change roads pretty often when we were losing … we’re both pretty superstitious. I just have great memories of him. He was always a good friend and a great competitor. He hated to lose. Hopefully he’ll keep that for his career in coaching.” (link )

Also, Guy's Selke nomination streak (1986-1990) was surpassed recently by the Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk, who was nominated for the trophy for a sixth consecutive season.  (link)