Patrick Roy has been there, done it when it comes to getting embarrassed as a National Hockey League goalie.
The Colorado Avalanche head coach pulled Semyon Varlamov after 40 minutes against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
The Wild had opened up a five-goal lead, thanks to a four-spot in the second period, ending the evening for Varlamov and embarrassing the Avalanche in a rematch of a first-round playoff series last spring. The Wild took this by a score of 5-0.
While these two teams battled through seven games in a highly entertaining series, this meeting to begin their respective regular seasons wasn’t close. For a supposedly growing rivalry, this was inexplicably one-sided.
Not just the score. That was bad enough, yes. The shots on goal after two periods: 38-13 for Minnesota. It didn’t get any better for Colorado, which managed only 16 shots to Minnesota’s 48 by the end of the game.
“I have a lot more to worry than our goaltenders right now,” said Roy, as per a video clip posted online by Mike Chambers of The Denver Post.
“The way we’re playing, I mean offensively, I mean, hey, we were hiding behind it in the pre-season. Now we can’t hide it anymore. We’re going to have to compete. We’re going to have to go to the net, we’re going to have to change our little game.
“Right now, we’re a little too fancy.”