Being Like Roy Is Every Quebec Kid’s Pipe Dream

Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche were eliminated from the playoffs April 22, and Roy himself may soon leave for good. Plagued by chronic hip problems, the NHL’s most successful goaltender is pondering retirement and told Quebec reporters this week he will announce his decision when the playoffs end.

Even if he retires, as is likely, his influence will remain because he inspired so many French-Canadian kids to put on pads and a mask and ignore their parents’ pleas to become the next Guy Lafleur.

All four teams in the conference finals have Quebec-trained goalies, reflecting the impact Roy had with the Canadiens from 1986 through 1995. The most prominent disciple is Mighty Duck goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who is 2 minutes 7 seconds from equaling Roy’s record streak of 162 minutes 56 seconds of scoreless play in overtime. However, Giguere rejects suggestions he’s the next Roy.

“There’s only one Patrick Roy, and there’s only going to be one,” Giguere said Tuesday. “He’s the best goalie that ever played.... I think it’s going to be a little bit sad day for hockey [when Roy retires]. He’s been around a long time. A lot of kids look up to him. I still look up to him when I play against him.”

Roy’s influence also is evident in the sustained excellence of New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur and the rise of Minnesota’s Manny Fernandez, both of whom grew up in Montreal, as well as in the emergence of Ottawa’s Patrick Lalime, who’s from St. Bonaventure.

“In Quebec, there are no professional baseball players. There are no professional soccer players, or tennis or golf. The only place kids can see stars is in hockey, and hockey players are very influential on kids,” said Duck goaltending coach Francois Allaire, also a Quebecer. “Right now, the superstars for these kids are goaltenders. Mario [Lemieux], his career is almost over. But almost 25% of the goalies in the NHL are French Canadians.”

Allaire also has worked with Fernandez and Lalime, a former Duck. Allaire sees that trio, as well as Quebec products Martin Biron of Buffalo and Roberto Luongo of Florida, as the next generation of Roy’s legacy, a legacy that might last indefinitely.

“On my teams there used to be only one kid who wanted to play goal, and that was the kid who could not skate or was too small,” Allaire said. “When my kids play minor hockey, half the team wants to be goalies.”

While You Were

Gone ...

King Coach Andy Murray has been in Finland the last few weeks, guiding Team Canada to the world hockey championship. He returned to a strange, new playoff landscape, but said he’s not surprised by the Ducks’ success and is happy for them.

“Most people might not think the Kings would think it’s good for the Ducks to do well, but I think it’s great for hockey in Southern California,” Murray said from his home in Minnesota, where he’s one of the few non-Wild fans in the state.

“I thought the last half of the year they were one of the best teams in the league. Any team that adds three top-six forwards like they did with Petr Sykora and Adam Oates, and getting Steve Rucchin back after he was injured for two years, will have a good chance to succeed. They also might -- I guess I shouldn’t say might -- have the best goalie in hockey in Giguere. I’ve always liked Sean Burke but you’ve got to say Giguere’s the best, the way he’s been playing.”

Home of Hockey

Minnesota calls itself the “State of hockey,” but California is the state where hockey began for Wild forward Richard Park.

Born in South Korea, Park came to the U.S. when he was 3. He grew up in Brea and his family still lives in Los Angeles, but the 5-foot-11, 190-pound winger never anticipated he’d see them today when the Wild plays the Ducks at the Arrowhead Pond in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.

“It’s nice to be back, but I’m not going to make a big deal of it and let it affect my game or distract me,” said Park, who began playing hockey when he was 7 and went to Belleville, Canada to play in the junior ranks.

“We’ll have time to visit after the season. This is playoff time.”

Park was chosen in the second round and 50th overall in the 1994 entry draft by the Penguins. He couldn’t win a regular spot and was traded to the Ducks for Roman Oksiuta in March 1997. He fared no better there, recording one goal and two points in 11 games in 1996-97 and two assists in 15 games in 1997-98. He was allowed to depart as a free agent and signed with the Flyers but played only seven NHL games in 1998-99 and spent all of the next season in the minor leagues.

The Wild signed Park in June 2000 and invited him to its first training camp that autumn, but he couldn’t crack their lineup either.

“I thought with his experience and his speed that he could play on this team,” Coach Jacques Lemaire said, “and he came and wasn’t in shape and didn’t look good at camp. We sent him back and the following year he came in really good shape but we had guys from [the first year] and I wanted to start with those guys. I told him I was impressed and that he will get a chance....

“We had injuries and we had to call him up [in November 2001]. He came in and stayed. Since that day, he’s been in great shape, skating, checking, playing against the very top lines. He plays at times on the power play.”

Park, who married a Jersey girl and has a 2-year-old son, Presten, acknowledged he wasn’t prepared for his first camp with the expansion Wild.

“I had a lot of new things going on in my life,” he said. “My wife was pregnant at the time and I thought I was ready for camp. I look back and realize I wasn’t. I’m to blame. I wasn’t giving myself the best opportunity to make the team.”

Knowing he might not get many more chances, he was ready when he was summoned from the minors by Lemaire.

“It was very different,” said Park who had 10 goals and 25 points in 63 games that season and had 14 goals and 24 points in 81 games this season. “I had really matured as a player. It was the first time that I was really ready to play.”

He has played well in the Wild’s run to the West finals, scoring the overtime winner in Game 6 of its seven-game upset of Colorado and three goals and six points overall.

“He always showed he could play, but he needed to find the right fit for his skills,” Duck winger Paul Kariya said. “He’s a prototype for that team. He’s not a big guy but he’s very quick and that makes him dangerous.”

Slap Shots

The Sharks’ selection of Doug Wilson as their new general manager was a smart one. He’s familiar with the personnel and is well respected. Wilson, the Sharks’ first captain, replaces Dean Lombardi, who was fired after the team missed the playoffs.

Ottawa assistant coach Roger Neilson, who has been fighting two forms of cancer, has been strong enough recently to work at his office at the Corel Centre and help the Senators prepare for the Eastern Conference finals against the Devils. Neilson, 68, was given the Order of Canada last week in recognition of his work in hockey through the decades. Typically, he didn’t let it inflate his ego.

“He was back in his office [Saturday] and he was concerned because registrations are down for his coaching clinic next month,” Senator Coach Jacques Martin told Ottawa reporters. “Maybe if you guys want to plug it for him, that would help.”