Patrick Roy resigned as the Avalanche’s vice president of hockey operations and head coach because he believed that regardless of what it said on the organizational directory, his influence in personnel evaluation and decisions had waned.
That much is on the record and much-noted.
But the Thursday hiring of Cleveland Monsters head coach Jared Bednar as Roy’s successor, and even the pool of candidates during the search process, underscored the inescapable conclusion that assistant general manager Chris MacFarland has major influence — and the ear of GM Joe Sakic.
I’m convinced Roy was angry about that because he believed it was a factor in his diminished ability to have a hand in shaping the roster he coached.