Former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy will be immortalized with a bronze statue in his hometown of Quebec City. According to TVA’s Stéphane Turcot, the Saint-Patrick statue will be placed next to the Centre Videotron on Place Jean-Beliveau. There are already five statues by the arena: those of Jean Beliveau, Joe Malone, Guy Lafleur, Real Cloutier, and the Statsny brothers.
The work of art won’t depict the Canadiens’ legend wearing the Sainte-Flanelle, though; he will be depicted raising the Memorial Cup in 2023. Coaching the Quebec Remparts, Roy won two Memorial Cups and was the fastest coach ever to reach 500 wins in the QMJHL. He was the sixth coach to accomplish the feat, but he did it in just 815 games; the fastest coach to reach the milestone before him had done it in 948 games.
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For years, Roy also served as the Remparts' general manager, being fully in charge of the team’s destiny. While he left the junior outfit in 2013, he returned after coaching the Colorado Avalanche for three seasons, winning the Jack Adams Trophy as the top coach in his first year. He didn’t leave the Avalanche on the best of terms, however, walking away because he didn’t have enough of a say in player personnel decisions in August 2016. The way he quit left a blemish on his coaching jacket, and he would have to wait years to get another NHL coaching job.
His second stint as the Remparts’ coach lasted from the 2018-19 season to the end of the 2022-23 season, when the Remparts won the league’s championship. At that stage, Roy felt ready to return to the NHL and left, having accomplished everything he had set out to do in the QMJHL.
Wonderful work by the artists to immortalize not only the Stastny but Quebec’s love affair with table hockey #Stastny#tablehockey#proamgagnébergeronpic.twitter.com/vZZXHaKR7s
— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) August 9, 2019
He only had to wait for half a season before getting another opportunity in the NHL when the New York Islanders fired coach Lane Lambert in January 2024 and announced Roy as his replacement on January 20, 2024. So far, he has led the Islanders to 55 wins in 119 games and taken them to the playoffs in his first season.
Considering the impact he made with the Remparts, the statue is a well-deserved recognition of his accomplishments. One can wonder if Casseau will also have a bronze statue by the Bell Center one day. As things stand, Howie Morenz, Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, and Guy Lafleur are the four great immortalized in bronze by the Bell Centre. Given that Roy was the main reason the Canadiens were able to win their last two Stanley Cups, one could argue that he deserves the honour.
Photo credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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