Patrick Roy told Jonathan Marchesault, Bob Hartley, Anthony Duclair, Angelo Esposito and many more

Passion and the will to win every night. In the eyes of dozens of former players, assistants and close collaborators Newspaper We’ve been talking about it for the past few days, that’s what Patrick Roy, the four-time Stanley Cup-winning guard, and Patrick Roy, the head coach, said. The one who is now trying to add a second Memorial Trophy to his prestigious record, in what should be his “last dance” behind the Remparts bench.

“I think he really made us want to win. In fact, he taught us to hate losing. What he wanted, basically, was to see us work as hard as we could,” says former forward Angelo Esposito, who earned Canadian Hockey League Junior of the Year honors The first of Roy’s training.

Esposito was in his freshman year in a Remparts red uniform when Patrick Roy took over the team in 2005. The club, which at the time was owner and general manager, never had a moment, winning just one of his own. The first five meetings.

Roy, the man who made his lessons

But by that time, even if he only retired from professional hockey for two years, Roy had already learned his skills, Bob Hartley recalled.

Before taking the job with the Remparts, the former goalkeeper coached the Beaubourg bantam AA team (Beauport and Charlesbourg) with his friend and eventual collaborator, Claude Lefevre.

However, Hartley, who coached Roy in Colorado, said, “He didn’t need to go coach at that level.”

He believes he “could have gone straight into the NHL and achieved great things”. But it shows his passion and desire to always be the best.”

The eternal number 33 straightens the ship to defeat and in the same year the team wins its first Memorial Cup since 1971.

An amazing feat of arms, this ring is considered one of the most difficult to put on your finger, given the long journey that leads to final victory.

But this is not surprising in the eyes of those who knew him closely. “He always had the right words to motivate us,” explains former defender Mikael Tam, who joined Remparts in 2007 and was coached by Patrick for five years.

Roy, the coach who asks for advice

Roy also has this desire for continuous improvement. Because both Tamm and his assistants Martin Laberriere (2005 to 2020) and Lefebvre (2006 to 2011) describe Roy as a coach who “consults a lot of those around him”.

“We also often approached coaches from the National League to get their opinion. It’s good, sometimes, to think outside the box,” Laperiere recalls.

Far from the image of the man who wants to control everything he is sometimes portrayed as Patrick Roy.

Roy, the “tough but just” man

If there’s a cliché about the 57-year-old that holds true, according to the respondents surveyed, it’s from the “demanding” coach.

“difficult”, even. But it’s also fair to stress Tam and Mark Eduard Vlasic, the Sharks’ linebacker who is Roy’s most prolific “pony” in the NHL to date. “There were times when I clashed. He challenged me,” Tam points out.

“At the time he was very tough,” said Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchesault, who played for the former goalkeeper from 2007-11. […] He was such a tough coach that I think he brought out the best in most players.”

Some of his former subjects also point out that such pressure was not applied to everyone.

“I had teammates who didn’t like him, but those who were there for the right reasons, and wanted to win, loved him,” said Tam. Because Pat, if you give it to him, if you do what he asked, you will become one of his trusted men.

“He was a tough guy and coached with passion, who only wanted the best for his players. He was tough at times, but often very good,” adds Anthony Duclair, now one of the Panthers’ forwards.

Roy, the “visionary” and “doer” coach

Roy also did “everything to help his players,” notes Esposito, who at the time lived under the pressure of being one of the brightest prospects in junior hockey.

“The Remparts team was one of the first to hire a coach in charge of physical fitness. And if we needed a psychologist, if a player had problems off the ice, the team and did everything so that we knew everything about the matter, ”he praises.

If Tam calls him an “excellent strategist”, he also remembers the coach who did not count his hours.

“He’s in the office at 6:50 or 7 a.m. every morning and doesn’t sit down to read the news,” assures Benoit Desrosiers, his assistant since returning to Quebec in 2018. He watches videos nonstop. He’s a guy who’d like to try 122 cases.

“Sometimes I have to calm him down a bit,” he continues. He wants everything to be perfect. The word passion is not strong enough.

Roy, the coach who has adapted

But if Patrick Roy remained enthusiastic between his first and second stay behind the Remparts bench, punctuated in particular by his three-year stint with the Avalanche, he too has changed a lot over the years, his supporters and former players believe.

Once or twice a year, Marchessault trains with Remparts. Discover a trainer who has always been demanding, but more aware of what characterizes each of those you protect.

“He understands situations, he knows who pays the most, and that’s his strength now. That’s why, too.” [les Remparts] It has been very successful in recent years.

Tam saw the same thing when he worked as an “assistant” for three months at Remparts, in 2020. He saw a coach adapting well to the new generation, which he considers different from his own.

“I saw that Pat changed his approach. It also shows how he is not a stubborn man to whom My way is the highway.»

He smiles, “If he ever retires, he’ll have had a great career.” It was he who led the Rimpar family to where they are now, along with Jacques Tanguay and all the others. He won the Memorial Cup once, but with what’s going on now, I really wouldn’t be surprised if he lifted it a second time.”

“I wish him.”

– in collaboration with Stéphane Cadorette, Kevin Dubé and Mylene Richard