Hradek: Patrick Roy 'distasteful' at Memorial Cup (2024)

The Quebec Remparts defeated the Moncton Wildcats 6-2 on Sunday to win the Memorial Cup, awarded to Canada's top major junior club.

The game featured a pair of well-known coaches.

Legendary goaltender Patrick Roy is the part owner/GM/head coach of the Remparts. Roy decided to add the latter title early in the team's season.

The Wildcats, meanwhile, were led by former NHL coach of the year Ted Nolan, who made a return to coaching this season after several seasons on the sidelines.

Nolan's club bested Roy's squad in the QMJHL final, winning the best-of-seven series in six. But the Remparts got revenge, beating the Wildcats on their home ice twice during the Memorial Cup tournament in Moncton.

The battle between the two high-profile coaches got a little heated after Roy criticized Wildcats goalie Josh Tordjman. Roy told attending media that he thought "Tordjman had been playing over his head" and "he'd let up a few soft goals" in one of the round-robin games. Earlier in the tournament, Roy had criticized Vancouver Giants stopper Dustin Slade.

Nolan responded by calling Roy "classless" for taking shots at a junior league goalie.

In this case, I'd have to agree with Nolan. As I listened to Roy make his comments, one word came to mind: distasteful. It's one thing to make public comments to get in the head of Jeremy Roenick. However, it's quite another for a goaltender of Roy's stature to publicly criticize a teenager to gain an "edge" in a junior league game. To make matters worse, these kids absolutely idolize Roy.

Nolan told his players that great athletes aren't always great people. I think we can say that about every profession. In Moncton, Roy won the trophy, but he did precious little to distinguish himself as a human being.

Three Bolts

After the Lightning re-signed star forward Brad Richards to a five-year, $39 million deal, many insiders were quick to speculate that Tampa Bay could move him or one of its other two high-priced snipers.

Not surprisingly, franchise pivot Vincent Lecavalier would be the easiest to deal. The four-year, $27 million deal he signed last August does not include a no-trade clause. Tampa GM Jay Feaster could get a nice package of players, draft picks and/or prospects for the talented center. If he were to pull the trigger on such a deal, it wouldn't be without any personal pain. When Feaster replaced Rick Dudley, he told Lecavalier he didn't want to be the guy that traded him. In a league's new economic landscape, Feaster just might have to do it.

If Feaster chooses to move 2004 Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner Martin St. Louis, the GM better move quickly. The six-year deal that St. Louis signed last summer does include a no-trade provision, but the clause doesn't kick in until July 1. St. Louis would have substantially less value than Lecavalier on the trade market.

Richards' new deal has a similar clause. Richards' no-trade clause doesn't take effect until July 1, 2007, but if Feaster was thinking of dealing Richards, he probably would have done it before signing him to such a lucrative deal.

With three players eating nearly $20 million of cap space, Feaster will have to consider moving one of the big-money studs to get the goaltending help his club desperately needs. Also, a move like that might free up some money to keep key personnel like defenseman Pavel Kubina and left wing Fredrik Modin.

Just a thought ...

If the Blues decide to take American-born defender Erik Johnson with the first overall pick in the upcoming draft, I wonder if the Hurricanes would call the Penguins about the No. 2 selection. They could offer top defensive prospect Jack Johnson, the third overall pick in 2005 draft, in exchange for the second choice.

Now, you might ask, why would the Canes deal Johnson, who just completed his first year at Michigan, for the No. 2 pick?

Well, they might be interested in taking another member of the Staal family.

Jordan Staal, who starred for the OHL champion Peterborough Petes, is another big and talented young pivot. Clearly, the Hurricanes are thrilled with Eric Staal, who already ranks among the top players in the NHL. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that they'd like to grab his not-so-little (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) brother, who's among the top prospects in this year's draft.

On the other side of the deal, new Penguins GM Ray Shero might be interested in acquiring Johnson, a charismatic and edgy player who projects as a top two defenseman.

Jack Johnson is also a close friend of Sidney Crosby. The two teenagers forged a bond when they skated (and played baseball) together at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Minnesota.

Such a deal probably won't happen, but there are reasons for both clubs to think about it.

GM update

Last week, as busy a week we've seen when it comes to the crazy business of hiring a new GM, there were three new placements. The Avs tabbed Francois Giguere. The Penguins named Ray Shero. And the Bruins settled on Peter Chiarelli.

The three were assistant general managers in other organizations. Here's a quick breakdown of the newest members of the league's GM club and their chances for success.

Francois Giguere started his career working in the finance department of the Quebec Nordiques in 1990. He was already in the organization when it named Pierre Lacroix as GM in 1994. Under Lacroix, Giguere advanced to the title of VP of Hockey Operations.

In 2002, Giguere left the Avs to join the rival Stars as assistant GM. Because it was a lateral move, some speculated there had been a rift between Giguere and Lacroix. Others believed Giguere saw Lacroix's son, former NHLer Eric Lacroix, as a possible impediment to his career goals.

Whatever the reason, Lacroix had no problem bringing Giguere back into the Avs family as his successor. Giguere's strength is the business end of the game. So we have to wonder just how much power Giguere will really have. Lacroix, who is staying on as team president, likely will retain a major voice in personnel decisions. Giguere will no doubt handle the contracts and the paperwork, but I can't imagine he'll have the power to go out and make deals without the counsel of Lacroix or Brad Smith, the club's director of hockey operations.

With Joe Sakic (a free agent who'll likely re-sign with the Avs) nearing the end of his brilliant career, Giguere will wear the title through a transition period. If he can't find a way to maintain the club's decade-long status as one of the league's most competitive teams, Giguere might end up as the fall guy.

Ray Shero, the son of Stanley Cup winning coach Fred "The Fog" Shero (Flyers, Rangers), played college hockey at St. Lawrence University. The Kings drafted him in 1982, but he never played in the NHL. Instead, he spent some time as a player agent before joining the Senators' hockey operations department in the early 1990s.

After several years in Ottawa, Shero joined the expansion Predators as assistant GM under veteran exec David Poile. Within the past few months, Shero told Poile of his desire to seek a GM job. Poile enthusiastically endorsed Shero in phone conversations to interested executives around the league, and that positive referral helped vault Shero to the top of many lists.

Despite their uncertain ownership status and the possibility of a move to another city, Shero has an excellent chance for success with the Penguins. He wisely pushed for a five-year deal, giving him enough time to patiently build a team loaded with young talent, led by Sidney Crosby. Sooner or later, Shero also will have 20-year-old Russian star Evgeni Malkin, who showed his stuff against the best in the world at the Olympics.

At first, Shero was hesitant to walk into a situation where he would inherit a head coach (Michel Therrien). But after some thought and a few conversations with the not-so-smooth operators in Boston, he discovered there are worse things in the world. It will be interesting to see if Shero and Therrien can work together. If not, Shero eventually might bring in his bench boss of choice, Preds assistant coach Brent Peterson.

Peter Chiarelli, who captained Harvard's hockey team in the 1980s, steps into a dicey situation in Boston. Chiarelli is a pretty smart guy and he's going to need every bit of those smarts to get the B's back on track.

Chiarelli joined the Senators' legal team in the late '90s. Two seasons ago, he was promoted to assistant GM under veteran hockey man John Muckler.

Despite his playing background, his strength is clearly the business side of the game. He clearly doesn't have Shero's extensive scouting and team management experience.

He arrives under strange circ*mstances. Some will view him as the club's second or third choice, and to get him the Bruins had to surrender a draft pick (as high as a second rounder in a future draft) to the division rival Senators as compensation. That came as the result of an impromptu arbitration hearing convened by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman at the league office in New York last Thursday. Boston owner Jeremy Jacobs and his upper management team (led by his son, Charlie, and longtime club president Harry Sinden) got their wrists slapped by Bettman, who was none too pleased to be drawn into this conflict during the middle of the conference finals.

Bettman's arbitration ruling prohibits Chiarelli from beginning his new job until July 15. Until then, assistant GM Jeff Gorton, who's well thought of by the Jacobs family, will run the show.

It has been reported that Chiarelli will have the power to keep or fire Gorton and/or coach Mike Sullivan. But it would be a surprise if Chiarelli's first major moves were ones that irritated the Jacobs family. The smart money says Gorton and Sullivan stay in Boston.

If Chiarelli is free to run his own show, he'll have a chance to succeed or fail on his own merits. If, however, ownership continues to stick its fingers into the hockey decisions, Chiarelli will be hard-pressed to find a winning formula.

EJ Hradek covers hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com. Also, click here to send EJ a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.