There is plenty of speculation as to who the Avalanche will hire following the surprising resignation of Patrick Roy, who was Colorado’s head coach for the past three seasons. As the Denver Post’s Terry Frei notes, GM Joe Sakic will not be promoting any of their three assistant coaches (Tim Army, Dave Farrish, and Nolan Pratt, the latter being hired just this offseason) to the position.
When you consider that Colorado’s AHL head coach, Eric Veilleux, is beginning his first season as an AHL bench boss, it would appear highly likely that the Avs will be looking outside the organization to find a replacement for Roy. One speculative option is Bob Hartley who coached Colorado from 1998-2002 but in a separate piece from Frei, he declined to comment on his potential candidacy. Hartley was let go by Calgary this offseason with one year left on his contract.
Earlier this week, we took a closer look at some of the possible candidates for the position. Others that have been linked to Colorado early on is former Ottawa head coach Paul MacLean and Utica Comets head coach Travis Green, who garnered consideration from other teams for their vacancies earlier this offseason.
More from the Central Division:
- Louis defenseman Colton Parayko capped off a memorable rookie year in a different way on Friday. After picking up 33 points in 79 games with the Blues (plus another seven points in 20 postseason contests), Parayko graduated from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, writes Chris Pinkert of the Blues’ official site. Parayko took five courses during the 2015-16 campaign, including three in the fall while trying to secure a roster spot in his first full professional season.
- Wild defense prospect Gustav Bouramman is in ‘advanced discussions’ to play in Lulea of the SHL next year, reports KVP’s Johan Svensson (link in Swedish). The seventh round pick of Minnesota in 2015 (201st overall), Bouramman has spent the last two seasons with Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL and still has junior eligibility remaining. Last year, he picked up 46 points in 68 games, good for a tie for fifth in the league for points by a defenseman.
If Bob Hartley returns to Colorado, he would be adding to his history with the Avalanche’s AHL coach Eric Veilleux. Hartley coached Veilleux in the AHL in Hershey. They won a Calder Cup championship together in 1997 in Hershey. When Veilleux coached Shawinigan to the Memorial Cup title in 2012, Hartley was a special advisor to the team. Now, they could be re-united again in Colorado.