Time for Roy, Montreal to officially bury the hatchet

Hockey Betting Lines

11/19/2008 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A lot has been made of the way legendary NHL goaltender Patrick Roy left the Montreal Canadiens over the years.

After playing in 551 games with the Habs from 1984-95, capturing two Stanley Cups, two Conn Smythe Trophies and three Vezina Trophies, things went south after a forgettable game.

The infamous night occurred on Dec. 2, 1995 when Roy allowed nine goals against visiting Detroit. When Roy wasn't pulled by then-coach Mario Tremblay, whom he had been feuding with prior, he declared that he'd never play another game for the Canadiens.

Roy was true to his word and forced a trade to the Colorado Avalanche a few days later. He went on to play in 478 games for Colorado, winning two more Stanley Cups while earning his record third Conn Smythe. Roy also had his No. 33 retired by the former Quebec Nordiques franchise after retiring in 2003.

But five years after retiring and just shy of 13 years since his less-than- amicable exit from Montreal, Roy will have his number retired by the Canadiens when they host fellow "original six" club Boston at the Bell Centre on Saturday night.

"You always have some regrets, I mean, nobody's perfect," Roy said of his Montreal exit in a conference call on Wednesday. "There's things. But when you love to compete, and that's the way I was, it was good side of it and bad side of it. But I don't think I would have the career I had if I wasn't that type of person."

Roy's competitiveness contributed to him being the NHL's all-time leader in games played (1029), victories (551), playoff games played (247), playoff wins (151) and playoff shutouts (23). He hopes that Saturday's ceremony will go a long way toward burying the hard feelings created by that infamous game in '95.

"The good thing about what's going to happen on Saturday is we're going to talk more about, you know, those years like '86 or '89 or '93," Roy said. "I thought we had great runs in Montreal. I think [we're] finally gonna put away that December 2nd of '95 [game], and that's something that, you know, one game [defined my career in Montreal].

"I mean, it's funny, because when you play, when you get to the NHL they say to you, 'one game does not make a career.' But one game made pretty much my career in Montreal. But I feel that that was not the case. I mean, I had so many good years and we had so many good teams. I mean, I played for great coaches, but I also played with great teammates. Nothing would have happened without the support of them. But we had, you know, players that had that desire to want to win, and they were very special teams."

Roy, who is now co-owner, general manager and head coach of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Quebec Remparts, is older and wiser. He understands the history of the Montreal franchise - which is currently celebrating its centennial - and understands what it will mean to be the 15th player to have his number retired by the historic franchise.

"You know, the Canadiens haven't done that for a long time, and I felt that the Savards, the Robinsons, Gainey, Dryden, they've been a big part of the history of the Canadiens, and I think they deserve that," Roy said. "But it's a great honor for me to join them. You know, to see my jersey retired by the Montreal Canadiens means a lot to me. It's an organization with a great history and great tradition. I've seen them play when I was younger, and then watching games every Saturday and then going downstairs to play hockey because we were excited and we wanted to do the same thing that they were. I mean, to see today my jersey retired, I mean, it is very special."

Roy probably won't get emotional on Saturday night just because that isn't who he is. But that doesn't mean the occasion won't mean the world to him.

"Well, I'm a person that keeps a lot of his emotion inside," Roy said. "I think that'll be a great challenge, to see how emotional and see if I [shed tears], how good it's going to be and how good I'm going to feel during that night. A lot of people think I'm going to have some tears. When I retired or when I was in the Hockey Hall of Fame, I've never been that type of person. It will be a good test for my emotion, that's for sure."

It will also be a good test of the emotions of the Montreal faithful. Are they willing to let bygones be bygones?

They should, because despite his fiery and sometimes controversial personality, Roy has been one of the best players to ever wear the Habs' sweater.

It's time for Roy and the Montreal Canadiens to officially bury the hatchet.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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