Roy Hasn't Lost Fear of Losing

By HELENE ELLIOTT

May 18, 1999 12 AM PT

When Patrick Roy went to the Colorado Avalanche from the Montreal Canadiens in December 1995, he took two Stanley Cup rings, a reputation as a money goalie and a philosophy that remains his touchstone.

“In Montreal, you don’t play with the desire to win--you play with the fear to lose,” he said. “Some people say that’s not right, but we had some success.”

He led the Avalanche to the Cup in 1996, but Colorado was thwarted by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1997 Western Conference finals and by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round last season. The fear had faded, but Roy and his teammates rediscovered it this spring and have used it to vault into position to end the Red Wings’ two-year Cup reign.

With Roy stopping 111 of 116 shots, Colorado has won three consecutive games and takes a 3-2 series lead into Joe Louis Arena tonight at Detroit. The team’s comeback parallels its revival after a franchise-worst 0-4-1 start to compile the NHL’s fourth-highest point total, 98, and Roy’s revival from a 1-6-1 start to finish 32-19-8 with a career-best 2.29 goals-against average.

“I was extremely disappointed at the beginning of the year because it was the first summer I worked hard in the off-season, and I was sure it was going to pay off,” said Roy, who leads active goalies with 412 regular-season victories and is the playoff leader with 106. “I realized to win, it would not be only because I was in better shape. I still have to have the same passion and desire to perform. That has carried my career so far.”

His mastery the last three games--he gave up three goals, two and then none on Sunday--has given Colorado a psychological edge.

“He’s the biggest leader on this team,” defenseman Aaron Miller said. “He’s going to take us as far as we’re going to go. We need him to be the rock. . . . When you think ‘goalie,’ you think ‘Patrick Roy.’ If he continues to play with the fire he’s playing with, there’s no telling how far we can go.”

They will go as far as their distaste for losing will carry them.

“There’s a lot of talent on this club. When we play with a bit of fear, I think we’re tough to beat,” Roy said. “Call [their 0-2 start] adversity. If you don’t get through it, you don’t deserve to be there at the end.”

ARE TWO HEADS BETTER THAN ONE?

The two-referee system has drawn criticism from coaches and players, many of whom would whine with one referee, two, or three. However, there’s some validity to complaints about the lack of familiarity between referees who haven’t worked together and the difficulty of anticipating how much leeway the two-man tandems will give.

The NHL might have avoided that by using the two-referee system late in the season, instead of dropping it in February. Colin Campbell, the NHL’s director of operations, said that’s being considered for next season.

“We went through that time and again but we couldn’t find an equitable situation,” he said. “We didn’t want to have a situation where you have two teams that are in a race for a playoff spot, and we’d use one referee in games and in others use two. It’s not fair. Plus, it’s a huge demand on our people. . . . In lieu of that, we had a meeting in Toronto with all the referees the day after the season ended and refreshed everybody on what we wanted.”

Keeping pairs of referees intact, he said, “is something we’re going to have to reassess. It’s like defense pairs and lines. Some work well together. The good aspect is, we have young refs working with and learning from older ones.”

NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH

A Denver dentist bought a newspaper ad in which he offered Theo Fleury free dental work if Fleury leads the Avalanche to the Cup. Fleury appreciates the offer, but he’s content to leave his gap-toothed grin alone until he retires.

“The [missing] tooth has become a little bit of a trademark,” he said.

Although he can’t remember how many stitches he has had--he guessed 500--he recalls the first time he lost teeth.

“I was playing in juniors, against Calgary, and it was a two-hander by Mark Tinordi [now of the Washington Capitals],” Fleury said. “The worst part was the nine-hour bus ride back to Calgary after that. The nerve was exposed in my tooth.”

Was gaining a power play worth losing three teeth?

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “We actually scored the winning goal on it. So it was well worth it. Actually I scored the goal.”

The next question is where Fleury will be scoring goals next season. He can be an unrestricted free agent July 1, and he may surpass Mark Recchi’s five-year, $25-million deal with the Flyers. He has ruled out the Rangers because Wayne Gretzky retired, but he seems inclined to stay where he is.

“The more time I spend in Colorado and the more time I spend around these guys, the more I like it,” Fleury said. “It’s a good situation. If they were to approach us [him and agent Don Baizley], sure, we’d listen.”

RAY OF LIGHT

King center Ray Ferraro, an analyst on ESPN2’s “NHL 2Night,” has been surprised by two things in the playoffs: the amount of work that goes into the half-hour show and how swiftly the Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators in the first round.

As he sees it, competition in the West has been better than in the East.

“You look at the way even the Phoenix-St. Louis series went,” he said. “St. Louis won a war of attrition. Those teams beat the tar out of each other. That, to me, was far and away the best series of the first round.”

Ferraro, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, said the Kings told him they intend to play kids and probably won’t re-sign him. By keeping his face on view, his TV role may help his chances of getting another job.

“I hope not as a color guy,” he said. “I fully intend to play again. I’m healthy and I think I proved in the second half of the season I could still score and make plays. I’m going to decide one way or another by July 10.”

FINE-TUNING THE TV PICTURE

NHL executives say they’re neither unhappy nor surprised that ABC will show its contractually stipulated minimum of four regular-season games and the All-Star game next season when it takes the NHL’s over-the-air contract from Fox. With playoff ratings on ESPN and ESPN2 up from a year ago, they see ESPN as a prime partner and a national network, although it’s available only on cable.

“We’ve never been fully satisfied with the amount of support the sport has received, and part of that is the reluctance of Fox to cross-promote with ESPN,” said Steve Solomon, the NHL’s chief operating officer. “As we go forward, with the common ownership of ESPN and ABC under Disney, I don’t think there’s any way to understate the value of cross-promotion. They have indicated a total willingness to cross-promote and they’ve given us every reason to believe they will be an aggressive promotional partner.”

Solomon also said ABC can add regular-season games over the life of its $600-million deal, “and I suspect, over five years, that will occur.”

SLAP SHOTS

Portland Trail Blazer officials denied that owner Paul Allen is the buyer who offered $85 million for the Pittsburgh Penguins and will move them out of the city, but Allen didn’t deny being interested in the NHL. Commissioner Gary Bettman couldn’t persuade him to buy an expansion team before the last four franchises were awarded, but suite holders at Portland’s Rose Garden are said to be unhappy with the few events at the arena, and Allen can satisfy them by adding hockey.

Left wing Geoff Courtnall of the St. Louis Blues acknowledged he had problems related to the concussion that caused him to sit out 55 games. His ice time increased as the playoffs progressed, but he lacked his old edge.

Red Wing Coach Scotty Bowman believes Steve Yzerman’s privacy was invaded when a radio show in Detroit debated Yzerman’s decision to attend the birth of his child if it conflicted with a game.

“I know where they’re coming from, but my question is, why should we feed them?” Bowman said. “Maybe I’m an old-fashioned guy, but some things are personal.”

Yzerman’s wife had the baby between Games 4 and 5, so he didn’t miss a game.

Pittsburgh’s Jaromir Jagr credited acupuncture with helping heal the sore groin muscle he injured in the first round. Toronto Maple Leaf Coach Pat Quinn insisted Jagr wasn’t hurt, which can be an insult or a compliment to Jagr that he played too well to be hurt. . . . Penguin goalie Tom Barrasso recently learned that his father, Tom, has advanced brain cancer. The younger Barrasso dealt with another family illness nearly 10 years ago, when his daughter, Ashley, developed a rare form of cancer. Her treatments were successful.

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Roy Reigns in the Postseason

With each appearance, Patrick Roy extends his record for playoff appearances by a goaltender, and each win extends his record for playoff victories. With his 12th playoff shutout Sunday, he tied Terry Sawchuk for fourth place:

GOALIE/TEAMS: SHUTOUTS

Clint Benedict, Ottawa, Montreal Maroons: 15

Jacques Plante, Montreal, St. Louis: 14

Turk Broda, Toronto: 13

Terry Sawchuk, Detroit, Toronto, Kings: 12

Patrick Roy, Montreal, Colorado: 12

GOALIE/TEAMS: PLAYOFF APPEARANCES

Patrick Roy, Montreal, Colorado: 171

Grant Fuhr, Edm., Tor., Buff., Kings, St. Louis: 150

Mike Vernon, Calgary, Detroit, San Jose: 134

Bill Smith, Kings, N.Y. Islanders: 132

Andy Moog, Edm., Boston, Dallas, Montreal: 132