An article from the Denver paper addressing the Roy issue...
Roy takes calculated risk whenever he handles puck
By Derrick Goold, News Staff Writer
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy should have heard, "Play it!"
Instead of the Avalanche's sharp, simple direction that they are supposed to yell when Roy goes wandering from the crease to play a puck, there was no yell, several players said. It is also possible Roy was trying the trickier "Rim it!" but could not see the left winger to make the pass.
Either way, Roy hesitated and the rest is New Jersey Devils' glory.
Devils forward Jay Pandolfo seized on Roy's misplay and dished the bouncing puck back so his teammate, Scott Gomez, could flip into an empty-net, tying goal Saturday in Game 4. New Jersey went on to win 3-2 and tie the Stanley Cup Finals at two wins apiece. It was not the first time Roy was caught straying from the crease, but it did capture a goalie's most difficult decision.
To play the puck and aid the defense.
Or to stay put and avoid leaving a gaping goal.
"You don't want to get caught in no-man's land," said Avalanche assistant coach Jacques Cloutier, a goaltender for 12 seasons in the NHL. "But you don't want your defensemen to get crunched in the boards. If you don't play the puck in the corners they're going to get their head crushed into the boards every shift.
"A goalie has to play the puck."
Devils coach Larry Robinson probably had a good idea Roy's dangerous living behind the net would play into the series. Before Game 1, Robinson, a former defenseman who won a Cup with Roy, said Roy was "terrible" at puck-handling back then. He has improved, Robinson added.
Cloutier said puck-handling was such an important part of his game that he spent 5 to 10 minutes in every practice chasing pucks and flicking passes. When the Devils skaters meet at center ice, their goalie, Martin Brodeur, slides over to a spread of pucks and practices passing. Brodeur, lauded as the best puck-handler, even wears smaller leg pads and uses an average-sized glove to aid his skating and stick-handling, respectively.
Long after most Avalanche players left the practice facility Sunday, backup up goaltender David Aebischer was chasing random dumps by teammate Martin Skoula. Each time Aebischer would leave the crease, corral the puck and either flip it back to Skoula or practice "Rim it!" ? the act of lifting the puck and getting it to coast atop the boards.
Trained in Europe, playing the puck is new to Aebischer and quite difficult.
"My biggest mistake is I play it too fast," Aebischer said. "Timing is a big part of it and you have to be aware of where your teammates are and what you'll have a chance to do. You see how Patrick goes out backward to get the puck. That's so you see the whole ice and how things are developing. I go back sideways and only see half the ice. That's a problem."
Brodeur often has been described by his teammates as a third defenseman. Because he has such a good, strong wrist shot ? remember, goalies wear a baseball-like glove that mostly limits their stick-handling to one hand ? he can whip the puck. Accurate passes sneak past the on-rush of forwards and sometimes gooses the offense for a fast break.
A goaltender's role with the puck has increased through the years as the taboo of leaving the crease has diminished and the need for aggressive defense increased. Roy has improved that part of his game ? because it was necessary.
"It's huge," Avalanche defenseman Ray Bourque said. "You see more and more guys handling the puck in that position ... When you have someone who can step behind the net or go out and stop the puck, it can really release the pressure (on the defense)."
Roy has been caught out of position "tons of times" while playing the puck, he said. He might be caught out there tons more. It is that important to his game and the game.
"Goalies have to go out and get involved in the play," Roy said. "The goalies who don't play the puck are criticized."
