The new Avalanche coach had been waiting for a question about never having coached in the NHL before, and when it didn’t come, he brought up the subject himself as the news conference was about to end.
“I was surprised that no one asked me a question about experience and stuff like that,” he said. “And to be honest with you, I checked one very interesting stat: 100 percent of the coaches who are coaching now in the NHL were rookies at one time in their career.”
That was Patrick Roy, 39 months ago.
All of Roy’s coaching experience was at the major-junior level, where he was co-owner, general manager and coach of the Quebec Remparts.