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The Quebec hockey icon once revered as St. Patrick is losing his halo.
In the latest smudge on Patrick Roy's résumé, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has suspended the Québec Remparts coach for five games for his part in Saturday's ugly brawl involving his son.
Jonathan Roy, Patrick's 19-year-old son and the Remparts' backup goalie, was hit with a seven-game suspension for skating the length of the ice to pummel Chicoutimi Saguenéens goalie Bobby Nadeau, who did not fight back.
The younger Roy said he was not urged by his father to attack, but Patrick also failed to control his players, who brawled with the Saguenéens for the fifth time in two seasons. QMJHL officials cited Patrick's "prejudicial conduct" in handing down their ruling.
Quebec Remparts goalie Jonathan Roy, son of former NHL great Patrick Roy, attends a news conference in Quebec City on Monday. (Clement Allard/AP)
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Hockey fans, hockey media and even Olympic gold medal coach Pat Quinn said the combination of the famous Roy name, the father-son connection and the one-sided violent incident set the Saturday brawl apart in a sport where fighting is commonplace.
"It probably is drawing attention because it's so graphic what happened," said Quinn, who will coach Canada's under-18 entry in next month's world championship in Moscow. "The connection between father and son is interesting and the fact the Roy family is known and respected in the community draws attention. We've seen it before, and most of us don't like it. We know there's fighting in the game but this one was over the side.
"Under ordinary circumstances, [a fighting incident] is viewed once and dealt with, but not this one."
The elder Roy, who won four Stanley Cups in his NHL goaltending career, two with the Montreal Canadiens and two with the Colorado Avalanche, has a reputation for a short fuse. Yesterday, the YouTube.com website carried videos not only of his son's beating of Nadeau but links to Patrick's on-ice punch-ups with other goalies.
Saturday, Patrick was on the bench during the fighting. He denied any role in the incidents, although in video clips he appears to gesture to son Jonathan with a wave moments before he attacked Nadeau. Nadeau, 20, is the Quebec league's top goalie.
Jonathan beat up Nadeau, then fought again with Chicoutimi player Sébastien Rioux, who was suspended for six games for leaving the penalty box. Jonathan gave fans a single-finger salute before leaving the ice.
"The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League finds the events which took place over the course of last weekend's games deplorable and unacceptable," league commissioner Gilles Courteau said in a statement.
"I'd like to warn organizations that these types of incidents will not be tolerated and that should any more occur, steep fines will be handed out."
Rioux's coach, Richard Martel, received an automatic two-game suspension for his player's conduct.
The brawl has been front-page news in Quebec. Newspapers dedicated up to a dozen pages to the debate over hockey violence. Réjean Tremblay, the influential La Presse columnist, said he could not defend Patrick as he did when he was a brash young player.
"Suspension or not, severe or not, the damage is done," Tremblay wrote. "We're talking about an adult who has been given the responsibility to lead and control young players, some of them minors."
Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson said the governing body is keeping watch over the situation.
"I had a long discussion with [Canadian Hockey League president] David Branch and he's also had discussions with Gilles Courteau. Any time you have a person like Patrick Roy involved, we certainly pay attention," Nicholson said.
The third game of the best-of-seven playoff series between Quebec and Chicoutimi was scheduled for last night in Quebec City. The series was tied 1-1.
