When the Avalanche fired Bob Hartley as coach in late 2002 and replaced him with the inexperienced Tony Granato, it caught most off guard — almost as off guard as when Patrick Roy Thursday announced his resignation as head coach and vice president of hockey operations in a news release issued to Canadian outlets by a Quebec City public relations firm.
When Hartley was fired, Colorado was meandering along, at 10-8-9-4, at the time, and it would turn out to be Roy’s final season as a player. The Avs had never failed to advance to the Western Conference finals in the previous four seasons under Hartley — and had won the Stanley Cup in 2001.