Temper has long been Roy's worst enemy

Maybe he just did not want to fight, crap even guys in the nhl turtle, the fault lies with the one throwing the punches, not the one getting pummeled.

Of course it happens. I'm saying that it shouldn't, and that there should be consequences. www.flickeringpictures.com - not a hockey site, but still kinda neat

Unsuspecting? really? lol, what was he looking at then? All he had to do was hold his blocker and stick up...if he was not suspecting a fight, then he needs to get a new day job. "Give the Habs a 5 minute standing ovation at the end of the last game of the season against the Leafs (winning OR losing)" "Are the Habs ready to pay the Price?"

The fight was lame, I agree. I've never personally thrown a punch at anyone in my life so I have no idea what these guys are thinking when they are slugging it out, that being said, theres been worse done on the ice before and this kid is young, hes going to pay for what he did. Case closed. Everyone can go back to cheering for the Habs now.

Touche! "Give the Habs a 5 minute standing ovation at the end of the last game of the season against the Leafs (winning OR losing)" "Are the Habs ready to pay the Price?"

Richard never had a single season in which he even averaged two minutes per game in penalties. If I recall, his highest season total was something like 125 minutes. If he were getting into fights all the time, with a major penalty each time, he'd be way up there in penalty minutes. While he didn't back down from a fight, neither did he seek them. If memory serves, he was suspended three times in an 18-year career. He was hooked, tripped, elbowed, kneed, butt-ended, slashed and you name it on every shift, and referees let that go. Most of the time, Richard restrained himself, for the good of the club. When he didn't, it was because something particularly filthy had been done to him or something that he felt was career-threatening. That hype about Richard being a violent and dirty player came from the likes of that racist martinet Connie Smythe and the English language press outside Montreal.

Richard quit as coach because he said he found out coaching was not for him. He didn't feel he could do a good job.

J.T. Your article on Roy was one of your best. It definitely makes me think. "Give the Habs a 5 minute standing ovation at the end of the last game of the season against the Leafs (winning OR losing)" "Are the Habs ready to pay the Price?"

very true

Really? I didn't know Maurice Richard had a day job. I knew Beliveau worked for Molson's, but I didn't know about the Rocket. What job did he do outside playing for the Habs? It's true being overworked would shorten a guy's temper. But I think so would being in the spotlight all the time, carrying the French-Canadian star banner in Montreal and being the one expected to lead the team to victory every year without mercy would be pretty stressful all on its own. Roy and Richard seem to be similar types of players in their passion to win at all costs. My point was that Richard's passion and the behaviour it subsequently engendered in the fifties would be under a heck of a lot more scrutiny today...and judged accordingly. As for his personality...I don't know Patrick Roy personally. So I can't argue with you there. I just judge him by what he left on the ice and take the behaviour that gets reported with a large grain of salt, because, as I'm sure is the case with most of us, there's a goodness in there somewhere that doesn't get written up. http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com

Times have changed indeed....now these guys are under the microscope and the entire world is connected and viewing their slip-ups in a matter of minutes. That is an equally important difference.

Is he really an ***? Or have a few stories about a larger-than-life character swelled into a general belief that's actually built on very little? I don't know him. But I find people are generally more complicated than arms-length assessments would indicate. Of course, maybe Patrick Roy acts like an *** sometimes. I'm sure we all do. But I'm not sure it's fair to call him an *** as a general summary of his character. Then again, maybe you know him and have a greater base of experience on which you're basing your opinion. http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com

Thank you for that correction. It did seem a little too perfect.

24, He made this team great, and gave it a chance to win when they should not have been that strong. He made it entertaining and I doubt im the only one who will remember "the Wink". When I really think about it, the thing that truly infuriates me, is I still feel a little pissed off about how Roy left. I looked up to him, my first Habs jersey had his name and number on the back, and it just killed me to see him go. I have never said anything to diminish him as a hockey player, but to me, the way he left was just infuriating, disappointing and disillusioning, it took me a long time to really get back to that point, where I could say, good for him, he won the Cup. I was damn happy when in 2006 he won the Memorial Cup. I was thinking to myself, maybe one day, he will be back in Montreal, maybe as a goalie coach, or maybe even behind the bench. Then he starts acting like an *** over and over again, he makes you remember that yes while he is human, his ego, his temper and inability to deal with things that he does not like turn him into a ugly, gutless, and often times classless individual. He deserves to be continuously bandied about in the debate for best netminders ever, but the fact remains, and will always remain that when he turned his back on this team, which he did, he took a lot of the greatness and mystique out of himself, and turned him from St. Patrick, into the great goaltender Patrick Roy. He will always be my first favorite player, but he will also always be, in my eyes, the biggest example of professional hockey players who can be arrogant, selfish and petulant people. For a franchise who prides it self on the dignity of men like Bob Gainey and Jean Beliveau, I think it does not do them justice to hang his name beside theres for the rest of the existence of this team. There will never be another #33 in Montreal, at least not in my opinion. But hopefully there will never be Patrick Roy's name and number hanging from the rafters.

Well said.

The Hall of Fame and retired jersey's symbolize two different things? Really? You're right when you say that the Canadiens organization retires jerseys base on what they brought to the franchise. The Hall of Fame inducts players, journalists and builders based on what they brought to the game. If you replace 'franchise' with 'game', it turns out to be the same thing. Besides, how many Habs players, who've had their jerseys retired, are NOT in the Hall of Fame? As far as your statement about Roy's betrayal of the team, it's funny how ten years of greatness can be erased by a couple of minutes of hot-headedness.

The Rocket ...wasn't he going to be a coach and then quit.....I guess it was alright ...because he wasn't with us right????? How many athletes have said in the heat of the moment they want to quit.....how many coaches....didn't Toe Blake walk away (I may be wrong but I thought he Quit). I believe his famous quote was that "If I ever swallow defeat I'll quit". I wonder how he would have reacted after his entire team giving up on him in a blowout and the coach TRYING to embarass him.... I guess he would have quit....that was what he said anyway.

I didn't see Roy Sr. encourage nor would I assume from the video provides proof from what I saw, that "clearly Shrugs his head and encourages the fight." From what I heard he's had one other controversy not 3 or 4 that involved him actually fighting, and this would not be IMO be his controversy but rather his sons played out through him... The "So it is clear that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree..." statement judges him on a few instances that would not be talked about in normal media channels. Maybe you did not love the guy but I am sure that there a plenty that did. I think Montreal would have many un-inspired fans talking about the 70's Cup years if not for the number #33 were not between the pipes. Seems we would been leaf-like franchise with over a 30 year drought, 2 less cups and few generations without glory. I will not be one to judge his personality from a string of publised instances, since when I didn't know the man off the ice and the good he may have done that was not publisied. How many positive stories does the "bad-guy" get... I rather remember the man behind the mask that did wonders for the Habs... Roy is who I think of as a kid, he's my generation's reason for the Cup being raised and He is the one that I'll tell my kids was reason... rafters or not I don't care.

The Rocket punched a referee and was as vicious a player as to have ever played the game....yet somehow he is adored and respected ....I believe the term "fierce competitor" is usually attached to his name. Complete BullS#@t is all this is. Lafleur has had several off ice issues (two significant ones this year). If Roy's jersey doesn't go up then theirs should come down..........I hope you realize I am not saying to pull theirs down but merely raise Roy's to its rightful place. Mats Naslund left us to go home to Sweden while he was still in top form didn't he??.........quitter. Doug Harvey.....not exactly a crystal clear reputation if I recall correctly. Toe Balke obviously could not control his players and 100 percent approved of vigilante justice on the ice......either that or he couldn't control his players.......let's start the smear campaign now. Serge Savard.....is he not supposedly the reason Lafleur packed it in early. Mario Tremblay and Rejean Houle.........the real enemies in all of this .............look no further than those two guys if you want to blame someone for something. Regardless of who you thinkw as right with the Roy/Tremblay thing ....they gave away one of the top three players in the game at the time for a package of nobody's...that was disgraceful and set us back years. Easily more stupid then anything Roy did or didn't do during a typical junior hockey league brawl as a coach. How many coaches or players at the NHL level have never been involved in a brawl or ugly incident.....I will be awaiting the statistics. Great job everyone involved in this fiasco...let's try and find a way to disrespect our past players based on their completely unrelated behaviour because we are all such perfect little angels. I am now writing criticizing some of my favourite Habs of the past to justify the unfair treatment of another LEGEND. This is all very productive isn't it. Let's all put our worst moments out there for the entire world to judge and see how everyone likes us. Garbage......I am completely shocked to see the media for our beloved Habs attacking Roy in such a manner. I don't see enough evidence one way or the other regarding his recent fiasco with his kid but it is still an incident COMPLETELY UNRELATED to his place in the history of the Habs. Obviously they suspended him and found him partly responsible ...so what exactly does that have to do with his time as a Canadien???? Glory, honour, blah, blah, blah.......those terms are terms that in this context reflect the individuals as they behaved for their teams and then only. The blatant hippocracy when referring to guys like Richard and Lafleur who have also had such incidents only highlights the point myself and several others are trying to make......time will tell the story and what will be remembered will be the two incredible Cups that Roy led us to while inspiring a new generation of goalies. I bet the same stuff was written about the Rocket and Lafleur and most of the other greats at some point......the truth is though this bulls&*t will not withstand the test of time......the Cups and Legend that is Patrick Roy will live on.......deal with it. What do Roy's former teammates think of him???????Tell me that....the guys sitting beside him in the locker rooms for those Cups...waht did they think of what Roy did???That is what really matters.....that and the 2 cup rings that are plugging his ears(that's only with Montreal).