2006 – Quebec Remparts
When the 2005-06 season began, Patrick Roy was the owner and general manager of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts
Five games into the season, the former NHL goaltender also was the head coach.
Roy guided the Remparts into the league’s championship final, where they lost in six games to Ted Nolan’s Moncton Wildcats, who happened to be the host team for the 2006 Memorial Cup.
Also in Moncton were the Peterborough Petes, with head coach Dick Todd, and Don Hay’s Vancouver Giants, who would be the host team in 2007.
The tournament opened on May 19, with the Petes beating the Remparts, 3-2, on a goal from Jordan Morrison at 15:29 of the third period. That came just 13 seconds after Quebec’s Joe Ryan had tied it.
A day later, Moncton beat Vancouver, 3-2, and the Giants quickly found themselves 0-2 after losing 6-3 to the Remparts, who got two goals from each of Alexander Radulov and Jordan LaVallee.
After the game, Roy said he felt that his goaltender, Cedric Desjardins, “was OK,” before commenting on Vancouver goaltender Dustin Slade.
“In a short tournament like this . . . your goaltending could certainly make the difference and I think Vancouver with great goaltending would be up 2-0 in the standings,” Roy said. “I thought they played well enough to win both games.”
Hay responded by saying, in part, that he thought “Moncton comes at you with a little more work ethic (than Quebec).” Naturally, that didn’t sit well with Roy. And on it went.
Meanwhile, Peterborough lost twice, 4-2 to Moncton and 3-2 to Vancouver, and Quebec closed out the round-robin with a 4-3 victory over Moncton.
That sent the Remparts into the final, with Moncton moving to the semifinal.
On May 25, the Giants scored six power-play goals and beat the Petes, 6-0, in the tiebreaker. Slade recorded the shutout, forward Gilbert Brule had two goals and three assists, and defenceman Cody Franson scored three times.
One day later, the Wildcats scored two early power-play goals and beat the Giants, 3-1.
The Remparts had failed to win any of three playoff games in Moncton, but had beaten the Wildcats in the round-robin, and would do so again in the first all-QMJHL final in history. This time, Quebec won 6-2 behind two goals and three assists from Radulov. The CHL’s top regular-season and playoff scorer, Radulov was the tournament’s MVP.
“We just worked so hard for this,” Radulov said. “I think it’s better to win the Memorial Cup. All these guys . . . they are the heroes. The Remparts are heroes.”
The Remparts went into the tournament having played 23 playoff games. Roy made a key coaching move when he cut back on their practice time during their stay in Moncton. That helped the Remparts win their second Memorial Cup; the Guy Lafleur-led team had won in 1971.
2006 Quebec Remparts:
Andrew Andricopoulos, Brent Aubin, Pierre Bergeron, Simon Courcelles, Kevin Desfosses, Cedrick Desjardins, Angelo Esposito, Maxime Lacroix, Jordan LaVallee, Mathieu Melanson, Alexandre Mineault, Yan Ouimet, Felix Petit, Alexander Radulov, Nicolas Robillard, Joey Ryan, Michal Sersen, Kenzie Sheppard, Guillaume Veilleux, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Patrick Roy (coach and general manager).
NHL: Roy is one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history. He has Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986 and 1993 and the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001. He was named playoff MVP in 1986, 1993, and 2001.
