Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy didn’t deny that his team has had some tense on-ice moments with the Minnesota Wild, yet he chided a media member for an article he views as “unhealthy for the game of hockey.”
As the Pioneer Press’ Chad Graff notes, Roy called out the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Michael Russo for an article he claims more or less encourages revenge on Cody McLeod.
Click here for the article in question, while it’s worth looking at the full text of Roy’s comments via Graff:
Honestly, it’s difficult to see Russo’s article as anything out of the ordinary, as the author himself states in what may be his only response:
I'm not going to get into war of words w/ Patrick Roy. Nowhere in here did I advocate #mnwild to harm any #avs player http://t.co/lptEipB3v3
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 8, 2015
For a little comic relief, note that Roy describes Russo’s article as “garbage” while noting that a Matt Cooke hit on Tyson Barrie was “garbage” to him in said “garbage” article.
After last Saturday’s game, Wild coach Mike Yeo called what McLeod did to Granlund “garbage.” Friday, Roy countered, “To me, garbage is what Cooke did to Barrie.”
Roy, like Yeo, said the Avs will hit the ice Sunday intent on winning a hockey game. “Revenge,” Roy said, for the Cooke-Barrie incident has not been in Colorado’s game plan or “we would have done something way before” the McLeod-Granlund incident.
All of that drama aside, there’s little sense denying the growing animosity between the two teams, who meet again tonight.