Why does the City of Moncton hate Patrick Roy?
That’s an easy one, the 2006 Memorial Cup.
Somethings will never be forgotten in this city.
The hockey world and apparently Wildcats fans in general have very long memories.
The allure of seeing the great Patrick Roy up close and in person certainly wore off very quickly for Monctonian’s and Wildcats fans alike.
The former NHL star netminder was forging a very successful coaching career when it became very apparent the Remparts were the team to beat that season in the QMJHL.
Longtime hockey analyst and current QMJHL writer Will MacLaren remembers that season like it was yesterday.
“Patrick Roy is a very polarizing figure, and he’s going to garner attention based on personality and the fact that he was a star in the NHL” explained MacLaren when asked why there’s no love loss between Roy and the City of Moncton.
“Roy played for the longest time in a market and a team where you either love or hate, there’s a lot of reasons why, but in particular in Moncton it all comes down to the 2006 President Cup and Memorial Cup,” MacLaren said.
The epic battles that of the bitter rivals took on a life of itself that season and it just so happened the then Future Hall of Famer was at the heart of the story stirring the proverbial pot.
“Roy was very vocal in the media about certain Wildcat players like Josh Tordjman and Ted Nolan.”
Roy was quoted saying Tordjman wouldn’t be able to withstand the pressures of playing in the Memorial Cup on that large of stage.
“Roy became a lightning rod for that team,” MacLaren said.
“The Remparts were already coming down here as a very disliked team, but Roy and his comments amplified that even more.”
The Remparts may have been considered underdogs on paper that season going up against one of the finest teams ever assembled, but that just wasn’t the case in MacLaren’s mind.
“They were almost as even as you could possibly get, but for different reasons.”
“Moncton had more depth, while Quebec had an unbelievable top line, but if you looked at position by position from man one through to twenty, the Wildcats had more depth.”
“Quebec had a couple of guys particularly in Radulov that were virtually NHL ready playing major junior hockey and that alone prevented Moncton from wining the the Memorial Cup that season,” admitted MacLaren who served as the team’s colour analyst that season.
Patrick Roy is very quotable and is as fierce of a competitor that there has ever been in the game of hockey.
Mind games were part of his DNA.
Roy’s swagger behind the bench coupled with his boisterous passion and fiery spirit to this day makes him a very effective coach at any level, but even more entertaining for the junior ranks.
“The Remparts and Roy winning the Memorial Cup on Moncton Coliseum cements everything, for as long as Patrick Roy is part of the Quebec league, he will be disliked figure in Moncton,” MacLaren said.
Roy and the Remparts return to the Hub City tomorrow night to face the red hot Wildcats winners of sixteen in a row.
“Roy has his Memorial Cup ring and his four Stanley Cup rings, he’s earned them and his team won the Memorial Cup, but those facts will never shake the boos that rain down on him every time he comes to Moncton,” stressed MacLaren.
Patrick Roy has star power and the power to draw a crowd.
Roy still possesses the ability to fill rinks across the QMJHL.
Every team cashes in on Roy’s star power.
It’s always Patrick Roy and the Quebec Remparts.
The incredible billing is well worth it.
The City of Moncton may still hate Patrick Roy, but the former netminder is good for business and great for the game.
“He’s a guy that fans love to hate,” MacLaren said.
“Roy is one of those athletes that have been very successful and some people dislike him because of that success.”
“Roy always had that degree of attitude and cockiness and has never been afraid to speak his mind,” added MacLaren.
Personally I will never forget the night the Cats won the President Cup in 2006.
That to this day is the loudest I had ever heard that building since the Moncton Hawks won the Calder Cup in 1982.
The Wildcats raised the Cup that night and had visions of raising junior hockey’s holy grail a short time later.
The villain and the Remparts had a a different plan.
The most hated man in Moncton Wildcats history returns to the city where he had the last laugh tomorrow night.
Patrick Roy maybe the most hated man in Moncton, but he’s also one of the most respected.
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