How Mike Vernon may have influenced Patrick Roy's trade out of Montreal

Wednesday of this week marked a grim anniversary for fans of the Montreal Canadiens. On that date 25 years ago (a quarter of a century!), Habs' goaltender Patrick Roy was left in net for nine goals against versus the Detroit Red Wings. The future Hall of Famer, on his way to be seated on the bench after finally getting the hook, stopped to tell Canadiens' president Ronald Corey that he would never play for Montreal again. Roy was right. Four days later, he would be traded to the Colorado Avalanche in what is widely considered to be one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history (Roy and then Montreal captain Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko).

One interesting part of this story that often gets lost in the details is that it appears this was not a snap decision on Roy's part. According to several documented sources, Mike Vernon, who was in net that night for Detroit, may have had a hand in Roy's decision before the game even started.

According to Vernon, who told this story to the Athletic years ago, he decided to go to a small restaurant that morning that was frequented by players. It was there that he ran into Roy, who was enjoying his own meal. Roy invited Vernon to his table and struck up a conversation about how he was having trouble dealing with the pressure from Montreal media and fans. According to Vernon, he told Roy that his only real option was to ask to be traded. Vernon explained that his trade from the Calgary Flames to the Detroit Red Wings had done wonders for his career and he had no issue recommending Roy seek the same treatment.

It's impossible to know whether the trade to Colorado would have taken place had Roy not been left in net by Montreal coach Mario Tremblay for the shellacking by Detroit, or whether Roy was thinking about his prior conversation with Vernon when he said he would never play for the Habs again. All we know is that Roy would go on to have the last laugh, winning two Stanley Cups (1996-2001) with his new team in Denver and winning the Conn Smyth Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs with the Avalanche in 2001.

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