|
|
|
Wednesday, November 8, 2000
Slimmer Roy piling up wins
By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell
Special to ESPN.com
|
When Patrick Roy started his career, his objective was simply to keep
his job. Some 16 years later, the whole hockey world is watching as he closes in on becoming the NHL's all-time winningest goaltender.
The Colorado netminder goes into Wednesday night's
regular-season opener against the Dallas Stars needing three victories to tie
and four to surpass Terry Sawchuk's mark of 447. Roy is already the leader in
most career postseason victories (121) and most career 30-or-more-win seasons (10).
|  | | The record-breaking postgame celebration will be extra special for Patrick Roy. |
You would think a guy about to set an all-time record is on the downside of a great career. Although Roy might not be in his prime, there has been no plan to quietly ride into the NHL sunset on a trail headed straight for the Hall of Fame. In fact, as Roy turns 35 on Thursday, he might be in the best shape of his professional life. In the offseason, Roy altered his eating habits and checked into training camp more than 10 pounds lighter.
"It was more for my career than for the record or anything else," said
Roy. "I think if I still want to compete with the best in the business right
now, I have things I have to do, and I knew I had to be quicker. At the age I
am right now, I have to look at it one year at a time. I want to think one
year at a time and this year is a very important one because I have to work
harder off the ice, and this has probably been my weakest (area) in my career."
Interestingly, Roy said he read the biography of Sawchuk and studied a bit about
the man who played 971 games over 21 seasons for five teams, winning four
Stanley Cups. Roy is pleased that the man whose career spanned from
the 1949-50 season to 1969-70 was, once again, back in the spotlight.
"First of all, I think every time someone reaches a record or gets
close to a record, somehow it brings the memories of the great person or a
great athlete, and that is the beauty of it," he said. "Now, of course, we
are going to look at Sawchuk. How he was playing and the stats and that is
going to bring back a lot of great memories of him. I am sure somehow it
might be sad for his family or friends to see me pass by, but one time, his
family did an article and (his son said) 'If there is a guy that I am happy
to see beat my dad's record, it is him.' These are nice words from them, and I
really appreciate them."
Roy is such an NHL fixture, that it's sometimes taken for granted how long he's been around and how much he's accomplished. This is a guy who won a Stanley Cup his rookie season with the Montreal Canadiens in 1985-86. Not a bad way to start a career.
Oh yeah, he won the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoff MVP that season, too. And Roy repeated both in '92-93.
He also won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie in '89, '90 and '92. Then came that
fateful season in 1995-96 when Roy had his famous showdown with coach Mario
Tremblay. After Tremblay left the prideful Roy in too long during an embarrassing
beating by the Detroit Red Wings in Montreal, Roy told then-president Ronald Corey, who was seated
behind the Habs' bench, that he had played his final game with Montreal.
He was dealt to Colorado on Dec. 6, 1995 and led the former Quebec
Nordiques to the Stanley Cup in their inaugural season in Denver. He said
it's impossible to know how different his career would be if he had stayed in
Montreal. As it turned out, the timing was perfect for him to go to Colorado.
All the draft picks Quebec had compiled over the years during the Nordiques'
struggles and the other picks acquired as a result of the trade of Eric
Lindros were all coming into their own.
Roy's acquisition put them over the top.
"Things happen for a reason," he said. "For me, I mean, the trade
from Montreal to Colorado has been very good for my career. It has given a
second wind to my career and a new challenge and it has been a great
experience to see hockey grow in Colorado. It is hard for me to say if I
would be in that position in Montreal."
But Roy, who is trying to focus on the present goal of another Stanley Cup, said losing the weight during the offseason actually sort of happened by accident.
"This summer, it was funny the way it happened," he said. "My wife's
cousin, he is studying in that type of thing, diet and stretching and all
that. I didn't ride the bike as much as I did in the past, but I did a lot of
stretching because I had a bad shoulder and I felt like I was carrying a
little bit too much weight.
"Of course, my habit of eating was not very good,
and it was good to change that. Not just for today, I guess it is more for
after than today in learning to eat well and I am more balanced in that
regard. It really helped me a lot and to be honest, I see a big difference on
the ice. I wish I had done that before."
However long Roy continues to play, when he is finished he will join the
remarkable company of Sawchuk in the NHL Hall of Fame, which is more than Roy
ever dreamed at the beginning.
"It is kind of funny because when I played my first game all I wanted
was to survive in the league as long as I could," he said. "When I got
traded to Colorado and then I hit that 300-win mark, I realized that it could
be possible for me to reach that record, and it would be a nice objective to
keep playing hard and bring some consistency in my play and be there every
year. I think for any athlete, you need objectives and players like Sawchuk
and (Glenn) Hall or those great goaltenders in the past have made it
interesting for goaltenders. It gives them some goals to reach."
And Roy is about to achieve another one of his.
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe writes a weekly national NHL column for ESPN.com.
|
|
ALSO SEE
Who was Terry Sawchuk?
|
|
