Even after coaching his team to a Memorial Cup championship, Patrick Roy knows NHL teams might have some reservations about bringing him back into the league.
"It's hard for me to get a job because of the way I left Colorado," Roy told NHL.com's Dave Stubbs on Thursday.
"I know I made some bad choices," Roy said. "I know the way I left, everything I did, could have an effect on today's perspective on myself. I have to live with that. I know that I've learned from my mistakes. The past is the past but sometimes, you have to live with your past. I understand the situation."
Roy abruptly resigned from his dual role as Avalanche head coach and vice president of hockey operations in the summer of 2016.
"I understand now, better than ever, that you can't be in management and coach a team at the same time," the legendary former goaltender said Thursday. "If you're the coach, you coach. If you're GM, that's what you do."
Roy coached the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts for eight seasons before rejoining the Avalanche in a non-player capacity. Joe Sakic, who was the club's general manager and executive vice president of hockey operations, named Roy - his former teammate - head coach and VP of hockey ops in May 2013.
After Roy left the Avalanche, he took some time off before resurfacing as Remparts head coach in 2018-19. They blanked the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 in the Memorial Cup final last Sunday to claim the ultimate CHL prize.
Roy's unexpected departure from Colorado was the second time he abruptly created a rift with an NHL team following his unceremonious exit from the Montreal Canadiens in 1995.
He infamously told then-Habs president Ronald Corey he'd played his final game for the team while coming off the ice after head coach Mario Tremblay removed him from a game in which he allowed nine goals. Four days later, Montreal traded him to Colorado.
The 57-year-old said Sunday's championship victory was his final act with the Remparts.
"There's no better ending than that, that's for sure," he said Thursday.
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