SI.com’s Adrian Dater, writing in the Denver Post, says Patrick Roy will be announced as the next head coach of the Colorado Avalanche.

“They’re discussing the final details of an arrangement. Colorado is going to be very happy. Patrick is looking for a new challenge,” said Stephane Roy, the younger brother of the Hall of Fame netminder.

From the Post:

If Roy is hired, it would cap a whirlwind last few days, after which Sakic said he was in no hurry to name a new coach. But [Avalanche vice president of hockey operations Joe] Sakic acknowledged to The Post and to KKFN 104.3 FM that Roy was a candidate, and told KKFN: “I love Patrick. He was probably the greatest goalie that ever played. There’s a guy who was a winner. That’s all he wanted to do. I know he’s done a tremendous job with his junior team in Quebec and for sure he’s a guy that you would consider, yeah.”

Roy was offered the Avs’ coaching job in 2009 but turned it down, citing family as a top reason. But his sons, Jonathan and Frederick, who once played under him with the [Quebec] Remparts, are no longer there, and Roy has said he would consider an NHL job if it were offered.

Dater wrote that the Avalanche would not confirm the deal and that neither Roy nor Sakic could be reached for comment.

If this is the way it plays out, it’s a bold first strike for Sakic in his new position. As a brand name, Roy should be warmly welcomed by a disaffected fan base looking to recapture something of the franchise’s good old days. But more important is how he’ll be regarded in the room. His reputation as a winner should carry a lot of weight with the vets, but it will be the ability to nurture young players that he developed over eight years coaching the Remparts that makes him an intriguing hire. Roy earned a reputation as a hard but fair leader who inspired devotion from his players. Alexander Radulov, who played for the Remparts during Roy’s first season, said he’d “swim across the ocean,” for the chance to play with Roy again.

All that said, the jump from junior hockey to the NHL is no easier to navigate for a coach than a player. Dale Hunter was regarded as one of the best coaches in the CHL when he signed on with the Washington Capitals in 2011 and he lasted less than a season. Peter DeBoer and Brent Sutter managed longer stays, but have experienced mixed results.

And Roy, who guided the Remparts to a Memorial Cup in 2006 and champions an offensive style, comes in with his own unique baggage after several on and off-ice incidents in Quebec. Part of the maturing process as a coach, or signs that he’s a bit of a loose cannon?

Either way, let’s just hope this happens. The game’s a better, and more entertaining, place when he’s around.

We’ll update as details become available.

Drafting top-rated prospect and hometown product Seth Jones could provide the Avs with a huge lift. (Robert Beck/SI)

By Allan Muir

Sometimes things work out exactly the way they should.

That’s probably not an opinion held right now by the Florida Panthers, who lost tonight’s NHL Draft Lottery to the Colorado Avalanche and now have to settle for the second pick despite posting a league-worst 15-27-6 mark.

But come on, you have to like the thought of a kid who picked up the sport in Denver with the help of Joe Sakic ending up with the Avs, right?

There’s no guarantee that Colorado takes top-rated prospect Seth Jones with that first overall pick. As Bob McKenzie said while listing the results of his own scouts’ poll, one of the 10 had Halifax winger Jonathan Drouin ranked first overall. For all we know, that team could be the Avs.

But probably not.

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By Allan Muir

Here’s the problem with leaving your playoff fate in the hands of another team: Anything can happen.

Usually that means the other team that’s battling you for a spot draws on its own desperation to win and knock you out. Or the team they’re playing might not be fully inspired to carry your flag.

And sometimes the game can be taken out of their hands completely.

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Nail Yakupov channeled Theo Fleury in his tying goal against the Kings back in January. (Andy Devlin/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

I always have the best intentions at the beginning of each season to make a running tab of the moments most worth remembering. And, much like my determination to get back into game shape, it hasn’t happened yet.

Still, it wasn’t too hard to come up with a list now that we’re at season’s end. The games offered enough highlights–and lowlights–to fill a full-length schedule. Here are my favorites:

The Yakupov Slide: With the goalie pulled and Edmonton trailing Los Angeles by one back in January, Nail Yakupov crafted the signature moment of his rookie season: batting a Taylor Hall rebound out of midair and putting it behind Kings goalie Jonathan Quick with just 4.7 seconds left on the clock. He took a lot of grief for his spontaneous Theo Fleury impression, but it was a beautiful tally at a key moment. That’s exactly the kind of goal that calls for an over-the-top celly (yep, celly). You want to follow a sport that’s had all the life sucked out of it? Watch the NFL.

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Joe Sacco will lead Team USA at the World Championships despite poor recent form with the Avalanche. (Tony Ding/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

If you listen to Jean-Sebastien Giguere, his Colorado Avalanche teammates have been making off-season plans for weeks.

Now his coach has a trip of his own to look forward to.

Joe Sacco, coming off his third straight playoff DNQ with the Avs, has been tabbed by USA Hockey to helm Team USA at the upcoming World Championships.

Sacco is a veteran of the USA program, having served as an assistant coach at the 2009 and 2010 World Championships and skating for Team USA at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville.

Sweden and Finland are co-hosting this year’s event. The Americans, who are playing in a group based in Helsinki, will face Austria in their opener on May 4.

Roster decisions are still at least 10 days away, but it’s expected that Sacco will be guiding a young team that should see several NCAA players skating alongside NHL vets such as Paul Stastny, Matt Carle, Drew Stafford and Zach Bogosian.

Fans and media in Denver are lining up to drive Joe Sacco to the airport after another disappointing campaign for the Avs.

Flames GM Jay Feaster and the NHL don’t see eye to eye on a rule in the new CBA. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

Ryan O’Reilly may be back with the Colorado Avalanche, but the story of how he almost became a Calgary Flame isn’t over yet.

As first reported by Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston this morning, Flames GM Jay Feaster failed to understand a very critical element of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Had Colorado accepted draft pick compensation instead of matching Calgary’s two-year, $10 million offer, O’Reilly would have been subject to waivers before joining the Flames as a result of having played in the KHL after the NHL season got underway.

And that would have meant only one thing: O’Reilly would have been claimed by another team (likely Columbus) and the Flames would have given away a first- and third-round pick for nothing.

All because Feaster and his staff didn’t bother to contact the league and make absolutely certain that there was no misunderstanding of this CBA clause.

Fortunately for the Flames, the Avs matched the offer and spared Feaster that disastrous outcome.

But while he didn’t lose the picks, he may have lost something more valuable: the trust of Calgary’s ownership in his ability to move forward.

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Feaster famine: Calgary’s GM has had tough time of late improving his struggling Flames. (Terence Leung/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

For the second time in a day, Calgary Flames GM Jay Feaster baffled everyone with his thinking.

His decision to sign restricted free agent forward Ryan O’Reilly to a two-year, $10 million offer sheet might have seemed like a bold strike to solve his team’s glaring need for a No. 1 center. Instead, it strengthened a divisional foe ahead of the stretch drive. And he should have known that’s exactly what was going to happen.

Not that Colorado wasn’t willing to send the reluctant O’Reilly packing. In fact, after months of failed negotiations, finger-pointing and embarrassing parental interference, it was the preferred ending to this tiresome drama.

But an offer sheet? Nice try, but Do No Harm had a better chance of succeeding.

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By Allan Muir

There are blown calls every single day in the NHL, and as long as we’re sticking with human officials that’s not changing any time soon.

But blown calls are one thing.

This is something else.

As one veteran hockey official told me after watching the play tonight, “First thing I thought: we won’t be seeing [linesman Derek Amell] in the playoffs.”

Amell was in perfect position as the play unfolded directly in front of him, unscreened, and yet somehow missed that Colorado’s Matt Duchene was about five feet deep in the zone before the puck followed him across the blue line. Duchene was actually looking back at the puck the whole time.

Unbelievable.

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Ryan O’Reilly’s stalled contract talks made him a hot topic in the trade market. (Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

Now that the Colorado Avalanche appear ready to step boldly into a post-Ryan O’Reilly future, it’s worth asking who would be willing to take the reluctant pivot off their hands…and what sort of compensation they might offer for his services.

The asking price, according to multiple sources, is a current top-six forward and a top prospect. A pretty steep fare, especially considering the multi-year, $5 million per season contract it’s going to take to keep him happy once he shows up.

No, he’s not worth the money he’s asking, at least not right now. But the 22-year-old is a heart-and-soul player, a proven defensive warrior and a blossoming playmaker with a chance to develop into a 60- to 70-point scorer in his prime. He brings the sort of complete, two-way package that 29 other teams will at least take a look at.

So let’s separate the tire kickers from the teams most likely to ante up.

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It would probably take a miracle to revive coach Joe Sacco’s depleted Colorado Avalanche. (Jack Dempsey/AP)

By Allan Muir

Less than two weeks into this exceptional season and already the wolves are circling.

In Pittsburgh, Dan Bylsma is being pilloried for his in-game management. In Colorado, Joe Sacco’s toughness is questioned. In Dallas, fans are grumbling about Glen Gulutzan’s lack of bench presence. In Florida…in Carolina…

Anywhere teams are losing, panic buttons are being mashed by fans who are only too aware of the playoff implications of a slow start. Car pools are being organized to help ex-coaching staffs get to the airport. Wish lists of possible bench bosses are being drawn up on cocktail napkins.

Change needs to happen, and it needs to happen now, before it’s too late. Right? Right?

If it was up to the fans, half a dozen bench bosses would be looking over their severance packages right now.

But general managers, the men who actually have to make these decisions, tend to be a little more judicious, a little more big-picture oriented. They want results, but they grasp that these are unique circumstances. Which makes me wonder: Could this actually be the safest year in NHL history to be a coach? A season in which not one single coach gets fired?

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