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Avs, Ducks meet for first time since Roy-Boudreau fireworks

RoyBoudreau

It was a long time ago, but few have forgotten Patrick Roy’s NHL coaching debut -- a 6-1 thrashing of the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 2, that ended with Roy engaged in a spirited yelling/glass shoving match with Bruce Boudreau:

The Avs and Ducks will meet tonight for the first time since that incident, one Roy says helped forge a relationship with his team.

“All along, I had been talking about partnership with my players, and let them know I’m with them. And when that thing happened at the end it certainly gave me an opportunity to show them that I am with them,” Roy said, per NBC 9 News Denver. “It’s nice to talk, but sometimes talk is cheap. It was an opportunity to show them I am with them in a good and bad situation I’ll be behind these guys.”

That said, Roy admitted the $10,000 fine handed down for his actions wasn’t the greatest.

“Obviously I would have loved to save 10 grand,” he remarked. “But it was part of it.”

As for Boudreau -- who, following the incident, called Roy’s actions “bush league” -- he considers the yelling match ancient history.

“It’s so far gone, long ago, I have no idea,” Boudreau said, per the OC Register. “This is the first I’ve thought of it. My whole focus is on what our team is.

“Whatever Patrick did or has done, it’s got his team playing fabulous.”

Boudreau is right on that last point.

The Avs are 7-3-0 in their last 10 and have 91 points on the season -- two back of Anaheim heading into tonight’s action. Colorado would actually surpass the Ducks in the standings with a regulation win tonight, and put further distance between itself and Chicago in the ultra-competitive Central Division.