3, not 33

Many denigrate the '86 and '93 teams. The Habs won AS A TEAM. Roy did not put any pucks in the net, he kept them out. People behave as if he didn't have any D, which is ridiculous. BTW, when he QUIT on the team, and he did QUIT, that's enough to say that he thought HE was the team. Clearly, he was a valuable ingredient, but his selfish me-first routine has soured me on him for the longest while. This latest episode cements the deal. These days, he's just another bonehead in the Q who will never coach in the NHL. Celebrating jerks isn't what retiring the sweater is about. It about honouring those who brought honour to the team. Gilbert

right on cautious....well put

Koivu's a lock when he retires. How many years has he been with this team now? If the criteria are "exceptional human being," "contribution to the team" and "contribution to the city," then #11 needs to be up there. Would send a nice message too, making him the first European up there - just like he'll be the first European captain to win the Cup. :) www.flickeringpictures.com - not a hockey site, but still kinda neat

Yeah but so did Bertuzzi, Simon and Pronger. They have all apologized at one time or another. The way that kid acted made me sick, hitting someone who is not fighting back, who is on the ground and then giving the crowd the double bird, the punk should have been hip-checked by Scott Stevens.

wonderfully put

Great post.. Agree 100%!

Excellent post.

Excellent post J.T.!

I smell a good cop, bad cop routine here...

Arrested. I can only laugh at you poor deluded souls. If the opposing goalie skates out to the blueline during a brawl, hes looking for something. He found it.

It's hockey, relax. We've all seen much worse in our day, yet no one in jail...

and "frankie the bull" (bouillon), "the russian tank" (kovalenko), "breeze-by" (brisebois), red light racicot. . . i think it takes more than a nickname! :) i do have to agree that upon further consideration what one does off the ice isn't really relevant. i don't like roy and i haven't since he left the team. . . but when he was with the team i liked what he did, when he winked at the kings player (tomas sanstrom? memory failing me) i loved it, and while he was never my favorite player or the guy i found most charismatic (even while he was skating around with the cup in '93 i remember being slightly embarrassed by his macho crap - seemed like he'd taken steroids since '86). . . he is one of the all-time greats in nets

Colorado retired his number the year after he retired.

Absolutely epic post. Thank you for posting this : "Mario Tremblay hung him out to dry and humiliated him for 8 goals. I recall reading about the game against Detroit where Roy blew up. Steve Shutt who was part of the coaching staff at the time, was up in the rafters calling down to the bench, desperately telling them to pull Roy. Tremblay refused because he was the coach. Do you think Toe Blake would treat Plante that way? Or Bowman with Dryden? Didn't think so." Whether people like it or not, Patrick Roy was left out to dry. Does he have a huge ego? Yes, he does. But so do I. So do a lot of people. Roy plays and lives by his heart and when he was a Montreal Canadian, he gave them 2 cups that they honestly didn't deserve as much as other teams Roy allowed them to beat. Roy did a lot of volunteer work as a Hab, I remember that as much when he came to visit me in the hospital long ago. If the Canadians had proper team ownership, he would have played his whole career in Montreal and his jersey would already be in the rafters if it weren't for that night where a COACH thought he was being smart in teaching his star player a lesson that totally backfired on the team, the city and ultimately his job. Furthermore, you know what. Red needs to smell the coffee and realize that the last DECADE of hockey in this city suffered due to what I've said. Franchise players chased out of town, bad team management/scouting and players not wanting to play in a city like Montreal with the horrible horrible horrible media we have. Only since Gainey has come on board has things begun to change but there's one thing that Gainey won't be able to change, lousy fans and lousy reporters. Mr Fisher, if you're reading this. It's time to retire. # 33 should be in rafters but it'll never happen, no need to remind us all. Oh and what happened in the minors? Absolutely horrible but not surprising considering that the home team was raking the score 8-1. Nothing but bad things will happen when you start scoring like that, it'll happen in the NHL, the OHL, the LMQ, the AHL, the Laval Sportsplex, heck, even on the street. Don't rake up scores unless you're ready to endure the incoming goonage. Screw the Montreal Media for thinking otherwise and more important, screw Mario Tremblay.

Bingo Did Ken Dryden "quit on the Canadiens"? Did Roy punch a referee? Great post

Here I was thinking we shouldn't retire 33 because we're running out of low numbers, now you come along pull out all the rest ;-) At this rate the Canadiens are going to have to join the Arena Football League just to have enough shirts during training camp

I agree with you 100% krob1000 I love you Boone, but you need to get off your high horse. I guess Guy Lafleur is a shining example of humanity. Remember him almost killing himself in the 80s by driving drunk? His womanizing (taken from his own book) and this whole ordeal with his son? Let's bring down number 10. He is not the shining example of what it means to be a Canadien! I love Lafleur and he earned that banner People 35 and under have only to look to Roy as the only bonafide Canadiens superstar, my generation got to see Lafleur, Gainey, Robinson only in their twilight years. Remove him from the equation and we are listening to 1979 Chants and going on 30 years without a Stanley Cup champion. Before Roy my heroes were Denis Herron, Rick Wamsley, Richard Sevigny and Steve Penney. Don't think there would be any parades with those Hall of Famers! Unless you can vouch for every individual in era's where Mickey Mantle ran around doing anything and everything he wanted and the media protected his Wheaties reputation and this generation where what Roy's son did ends up on youtube but would not have been noticed by anybody outside Laval 15 years ago then you can convince me. But you cannot prove any of that. Roy quit on the Habs as much as the fans quit on him. Booing the guy who arguably single handidly brought two extra cups to the city of Montreal is just as shameful as Roy telling Corey he was done with the Canadiens. Who was right anyways? Houle, Corey and Tremblay sure turned into brilliant executives didn't they. Every single one of us has worked for total buffons and would give their left nut to tell them to shove it like Roy did. Is it Roy's fault that Houle is a moron and did not force him to honour his contract? It is Roy's fault that Houle traded him for 10 cents on the dollar? Nope. That whole situation could have been handled more effectively if Corey had not hired rookies for two of the toughest jobs in sports. He is an All-Time great, he is the best goalie of his generation and he will be in the rafters come next season.

"Anyone under 40..." I dunno, man ... maybe under 25 or so ... Isn't having a jersey retired a great honour? And aren't people who are honoured supposed to be lauded on the whole, as virtuous people deserving of honour? I agree with Boone and some other posters: the Hall of Fame is where Roy deservedly should be, for performing famous feats. But to have an arena full of fans of a hockey dynasty stand up and applaud you while your jersey is retired seems to have wider and more noble criteria than skill. That, I submit, is why they're different ceremonies.

I agree!

As I noted below with respect to Saku: He will be a serious candidate if he gets us a Cup. So far, we've missed the playoffs more years than we've made it under his tenture - not exactly an impressive credential when you have #4, #9, #16, #29 and other champions up there. Patrick won twice and was MVP both times (first as a rookie), Saku zero so far.

Of course we all know what you and the reporter mean, but I chuckled when I read your post. I imagine that the difficulty of getting a meeting is what's being compared, but for some reason my first thought was: "I'll bet a meeting with Patrick Roy is nothing like a meeting with the Pope!"

I agree Chuck, and while they are at it, #5 Guy Lapointe deserves the recognition as well. I don't see why they can't do it since they did it both with Yvan Cournoyer and Dickie Moore both wearing the #12 jerseys. "We will win the Cup only with Carey Price in the nets"

Yah, once it's retired no one else will be wearing it, so it's possible to raise it again to the rafters with another name above the number. It makes sense to honour two or more great players and people.

Guy Lapointe wore number 5. . . . ______________________________________ "All bow down before the Komisaurus Rex!"

I agree. Who f'en cares. This is just another of many examples of how media and easily lead idiot no brain fans make mountian out of a mole ESPECIALLY when it comes to Roy. People should really get that I hate Roy stick out of their asses. This guy is a millionaire who decides that he wants to be a owner/GM/coach for a junior team, riding the buses, grabbing hockey bags from the bus. For what SO HE CAN GIVE BACK TO THE GAME THAT GAVE HIM SO MUCH. Give him a f'en break and the respect hes earned.

Wow, sometimes people post things are are so stupid and non-sensical that I cannot sit idly by and not challenge said stupidity. Patrick Roy sent his son 200 feet down the ice to attack an unwilling combatant. There was no need for this. The opposing goalie was in no way involved in the brawl. There is no evidence that the opposing goalie caused the brawl. There is however video evidence of Roy jr assaulting another player and attempting to cause injury. The opposing goalie did not fight back, and instead had to turtle to prevent serious injury at the hands of Roy jr. The number of fans that attend subsequent games does not excuse or explain away the disgusting behaviour of both Roys. 30,40 and even 50 game suspensions should be issued.

love koivu not in the top 20 habs of all time

He will be a serious candidate if he gets us a Cup. We've missed the playoffs more years than we've made it under his tenture - not exactly an impressive credential when you have #4, #9, #16, #29 and other champions up there.