'Mission accomplished': Patrick Roy departs bench of Memorial Cup-winning Quebec Remparts
CBC
Patrick Roy has resigned as general manager and head coach of the Quebec Remparts just over a week after the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team won the Memorial Cup.
Roy, a Hall of Fame goaltender who coached the Remparts for 13 seasons over two stints, made the announcement Tuesday in a news conference at the Quebec City's Videotron Centre, where the Remparts play their home games.
Roy's longtime partner and friend, Jacques Tanguay, also resigned as the team's president.
Roy had indicated last summer he would leave his head coaching duties after the 2022-23 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season, but said he had time for more reflection on his future after winning his second Memorial Cup.
The Remparts thumped the Western Hockey League's Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 on June 4 in the final of the elite major junior hockey tournament.
"In life, you must be able to leave at the right time," the four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche, said Tuesday. "Today, I can leave my positions and say 'Mission accomplished."'
Roy, along with Tanguay and local businessman Michel Cardin, bought the league's Beauport Harfangs, who had trouble drawing fans in suburban Quebec City, during the 1996-97 QMJHL season.
The owners had an eye to bring junior hockey back to Quebec City proper after the original Remparts, founded in 1969, left the city in 1985. The Harfangs were renamed the Remparts for the 1997-98 season and moved to Laval University's campus.
"The Remparts have won back the hearts of the hockey fans in the city," said Roy.
Tanguay said Roy, who was still with the Avalanche when he became co-owner of the team, brought a passion to the group that was contagious to everyone involved.
"He was in Colorado and was saying 'Send me the tapes of the games,"' Tanguay said. "He would analyze the tapes and would call the coaches and say 'Let's try this' or 'Can you input this to the team.'
"Patrick was as passionate on Day 1 than on his last day behind the bench."
Roy took over as head coach of the Remparts for the 2005-06 season and lead the team to a Memorial Cup title that year.
He left the team after the 2012-13 season when he joined the Avalanche as head coach and vice president of hockey operations. After three years with the Avalanche, he resigned in 2016.
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