Patrick Roy isn’t just one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He’s also one of the most special ones. He’s the only player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy three times, and he also did it in three different decades. He’s a Hockey Hall of Famer, and his number 33 jersey is retired by the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche.
But he was, as mentioned earlier, a special guy off the ice and a guy with a lot of integrity. Nobody messed with Saint Patrick; to be fair, none of his teammates had the guts to. But Craig Rivet, a former defenseman of the Montreal Canadiens, wasn’t aware of that.
He had just been recalled by the Habs and had only played one game with the team, with Patrick Roy in goal.
”In my second game, I show up to the rink, I’m there by myself, and Patrick Roy had his glove, blocker, and helmet laid in front of his stall. So I’m walking around, and no one is in the room. So I take the glove and the blocker, and I’m like, ’Oh, God.’ I’m just seeing how heavy it is, squeezing them, and thinking, ’Oh my God. This is absolutely insane.’
”Two seconds later, Roy comes in and he says, ’Hey! You like what you see? You like that? They feel good?’ And I’m like, ’Oh, sorry.’ But he says it’s all okey and that I should keep going, and I just thought it was great. So, eventually, I gave them back, and he puts them right back.”
”Then he looks at me and goes, ’Don’t ever f*cking touch my stuff again.’ I’d never said a word to him, I’d never talked to him. I’ve never been more ill being out a rink. So I just thought ’I’m done,’ I touched the God stuff, and I shouldn’t be touching that stuff.”
