Nearly 30 years ago, the Montreal Canadiens made a trade that forever altered the trajectory of their franchise. Following a dramatic incident with then head coach Mario Tremblay, the Canadiens traded away their star goaltender Patrick Roy in what would go down as one of the most controversial trades in NHL history. Tremblay has since shouldered much of the blame from Canadiens fans, who saw him as the driving force behind the unfortunate trade of their beloved “St. Patrick.”
A Fateful Trade
In December 1995, with the Canadiens struggling to find success on the ice, newly appointed GM Réjean Houle traded Patrick Roy and forward Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche. In return, Montreal received goalie Jocelyn Thibault and forwards Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. Many now see this trade as one of the biggest blunders in NHL history, as Colorado, under the savvy direction of GM Pierre Lacroix, would go on to capture two Stanley Cups with Roy in net. Meanwhile, the Canadiens would struggle for years, unable to regain the glory Roy had helped them achieve.
How It Happened
The lead-up to this historic trade was as tumultuous as the trade itself. After a disappointing start to the season, Club President Ronald Corey made a surprising decision to fire both GM Serge Savard and head coach Jacques Demers without a clear succession plan. He hastily promoted assistant coach Jacques Laperrière to interim head coach, and shortly thereafter appointed Houle as GM and Tremblay as head coach—both of whom had no experience in these roles.
The relationship between Roy and Tremblay was rocky from the start. Roy, who had been granted significant influence under Demers, was now playing for a coach who sought to make a statement about who was in charge. This tension ultimately erupted on December 2, 1995, when, after allowing eight goals, Roy remained in net during a game against the Detroit Red Wings. When he was finally pulled after conceding nine goals, an irate Roy walked past Tremblay without exchanging words, telling Corey, on national TV, “I just played my last game in Montreal.“
Tremblay: The Scapegoat
Many Canadiens fans have blamed Tremblay for Roy’s departure, and to an extent, he deserves a share of the blame. But other factors contributed to Roy’s dramatic exit. One could question whether Demers gave Roy too much power, which created a sense of entitlement that clashed with Tremblay’s authoritarian approach. And although Tremblay’s handling of Roy could be criticized, Roy’s own impulsive reaction certainly contributed to the fallout. Instead of cooling down and discussing the situation, Roy demanded a trade on the spot, turning his back on his team, and on the very fans who had cheered him on for nearly a decade.
The forgotten culprit
What I remember most about this whole saga, this sad segment in the Canadiens’ history, is Ronald Corey’s decision to panic and fire Serge Savard and his head coach Jacques Demers and that, without any alternative plan, in October! It is also his decision to put an inexperienced GM and head coach in a situation of failure, in a city like Montreal. Didn’t he know what to expect? I have absolutely no doubt that Houle and Tremblay are great people and that they know their hockey but in Montreal, all the while the Canadiens were having a terrible start to their season, with media and fans on the verge of a breakdown? Really?
In my humble opinion, yes, Mario Tremblay deserves his share of the blame for the way he treated Patrick Roy and this whole situation, but he certainly isn’t the only one to blame for it. A small portion of the blame goes to Mr. Demers for babying St-Patrick. A good part of the blame goes to the person who had this knee-jerk reaction as a vindictive act against his coach, not thinking about the team and his fans who had supported him since his arrival in the NHL. But the biggest part of the blame should be directed towards someone who got away with it for the most part, the one who put everyone in a really difficult situation: his name is Ronald Corey.
Savard about Roy
The situation in Montreal was a time-bomb waiting to explode. In his biography “Serge Savard: Forever Canadiens“, Savard explains:
“Patrick had become too important in the club. He took up too much space in the dressing room, had too much influence on the coach. Over the previous years, I had to handle him with kid gloves. I still had the same admiration for him as I did when we won the Stanley Cup in 1986 and 1993, where he played a determining role. But a change had become necessary. The team revolved around him too much. For the good of everyone, he needed a change of scenery.”
The Canadiens began the 1995-96 season on the wrong foot and fans began screaming for changes to be made. If there had been no change at the top, or at least if Savard had remained as General Manager, it is very possible that Roy would not have even finished the month of October in Montreal. What the following weeks demonstrated was that Avalanche GM Pierre Lacroix was willing to move Nolan and that he was determined to get his hands on Roy, a former client when Lacroix was still a players’ agent, and trade talks with Savard and the Canadiens were ongoing. The firing of Savard and the behind the bench scene that followed simply gave the Avalanche’s GM all the leverage he could dream of.
Closing Reflection
In the end, the departure of Patrick Roy was a result of many factors: Tremblay’s coaching decisions, Roy’s own reaction, and Corey’s executive missteps. While Tremblay may remain a scapegoat in the eyes of Canadiens fans, the entire saga underscores a deeper lesson: when pride, ego, and lack of communication intersect, even the brightest stars can be dimmed. Perhaps in acknowledging this complex reality, fans can come to a fuller understanding of one of the most controversial moments in Canadiens history.
