Patrick Roy - The best Goaltender That Ever Lived
Early Life
Patrick Roy like many other NHL’ers dream began when he was little. He came from a background where fitness and athletic was very important. By 7 years old he was obsessed with playing road hockey. Young Patrick was very energetic as a kid. When he was 8 he asked for goalie pads for Christmas, he got them! Later his mom’s friend arranged Patrick to meet Daniel Bouchard (his childhood hero and influence) he got a stick from him with an autograph and slept with the stick every day because he was so thrilled. He use to watch Hockey Night In Canada and pretended he was a famous Canadien goalie such as Ken Dryden. He would use pillows as his pads and tie them with belts before he got real pads! He wanted to be an NHL goalie ever since childhood. In school his favourite subjects were Math and Phys-ed. He began playing on ice when he was 6!
Family Life
Athletics were always important in Patrick’s family. His mother was a synchronized swimmer when she was young. His dad loved baseball and tennis. Barbara (Patrick’s mom) coached a synchronized swimming team and was an international swimmer at a young age. Patrick’s family grew up to Quebec Nordique fans, but Patrick always dreamed of playing in the Montreal’s uniform. His father was a successful executive on the Quebec Automobile Insurance Board. He often played hockey with his younger brother Stephan. Her sister, Alexandra never liked hockey all that much. He married Michele Piuze and had 3 kids. First one was Jonathan born 1989, March 15. Another son, Frederick was born in February 26,1991. Her daughter Jana was born in June 1993.
Early Career-QMJHL, AHL,
He started to play with the Sainte-Foy Governors (Sainte-Foy is a rich area in Quebec City, where Patrick was born). He had a little trouble with the heavy pads when he was young but then got used to it. In grade 11 he decided to drop out of high school. This was a big decision considering that a good education is essential in the NHL, but Patrick was confident that he would make it and so were his parents. After that he attended the Granby Bisons try-outs and made it to the team. Granby though wasn't that good, they had horrible defence and didn't win too often. In Patrick's first year (1982-83) in the QMJHL he averaged a Goals Against Average of 6.26. The next year he played in 61 games for the Bisons and had a 29-29-1 record with a GAA of 4.44. He recalls the playing atmosphere in Granby, "I gave up a lot of goals but it was a good experience for me to learn the hardships of goaltending. In the summer of 1984 the Montreal Canadiens used there fourth round draft pick to say the name "Patrick Roy" In the next season he showed his excellent goaltending in his first NHL game and win on February 23,1985. After his performance he was shipped down to Sherbrook to play there for the Canadiens in the AHL level. He showed his excellent goaltending there and led the Sherbrook Canadiens to a Cadler Cup (like the Stanley Cup for AHL). Due to these performances Patrick was ready for Prime Time.
NHL career
Patrick Roy has had an out standing NHL career. He joined the Canadiens and finished his rookie season with a 3.35 GAA, which was pretty good for a new goalie. In the playoffs though he exceeded his game to new levels as he won the Stanley Cup for the Montreal Canadien team. He also picked up a Conn Smyth trophy for being the MVP for Montreal! He was just 20 when he won the Conn Smyth trophy making him the youngest player to do so. In the next three years he won the Vezina Trophy for being the best goaltender in the regular season. Later in the 1993 playoffs after having a not-so-good season he rebounded with another Stanley Cup Championship for the Canadiens. Then in 1995 after the controversy with his coach he was traded to Colorado where he adjusted quickly and won the Stanley Cup for the Av’s. On October 17, 2000 Patrick Roy made an entry in the history books by recording his 448th win breaking the previous record held by Terry Swatchuck of 447 win. Later that year he won another Stanley Cup defeating Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils giving him his 4th Stanley Cup and his 3rd Conn Smyth Trophy. Recently (January 20, 2003) Patrick played in his 1000th game, the most ever by goal tender in the history of the game.
Personality
Patrick is very, very competitive. He loves a challenge and loves to win he admits,” I love to win, I have a love to win which is more then the love to win”. His concentration is exceedingly well. His confidence matches his concentration and is excellent under pressure. His goalie skills are almost perfected; he has an amazing glove hand and his butterfly style protects the bottom part of the net superbly. Some say that his tremendous talent and skill can be matched by his ego. His very cocky and has a lot of ego. To say that he is the best goal tender in the world has ever seen is a moot point…because he thinks he is.
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