FanHouse PatrickRoy

After serving as the Florida Panthers general manager for the past four seasons (and head coach for three of those seasons) Jacques Martin will be named the new head coach of the Montreal Canadiens on Monday. During his four-year stint in charge of the Panthers, the team failed to make the playoffs each season, while he brings 14 years of head coaching experience to the Canadiens.

After a brief two-year tenure with the St. Louis Blues in the late 1980s, Martin took over the Ottawa Senators in 1995, leading the team to the playoffs eight times in nine years, while also winning three division titles and the Jack Adams award as coach of the year in 1999.

Last week it was reported that Hall of Fame goaltender and former Avalanche netminder Patrick Roy was offered the team's head coaching position currently occupied by Tony Granato. Today, a report from Ruefronteac.com cites sources close to Roy that the Avs have stepped up their offer to include their GM position.

The report goes on to mention that the Avalanche have stepped up the offer to try and draw Roy away from other suitors, particularly the Montreal Canadiens, whose head coaching job is currently vacant. The Habs fired Guy Carbonneau earlier this year and GM Bob Gainey filled in for the remainder of the season.

According to the Denver Post, the Colorado Avalanche have offered their head coaching position to Hall of Fame netminder Patrick Roy. Roy helped lead the team to two Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001 and retired in 2003 as the winningest goaltender in NHL history, a record recently surpassed by New Jersey's Martin Brodeur.

Roy may be the ideal candidate in the mind of Pierre Lacroix but there's one problem. They already have a coach. As in current coach Tony Granato who is still in charge of the team at the moment.

During last night's game against the Bruins, Canadiens fans really let Carey Price, their starting netminder, hear their displeasure with him. Chants of "Carey! Carey!" rained down towards the end of the third and at one point, there was a lot of sarcastic applause for a save he made (video above). Price reacted to that by saluting the fans and, as the announcer on TSN points out, Price's reaction looked awfully similar to one from Patrick Roy in his final game as a Canadien.

Not many NHL teams would be happy with a 32-45-5 season. The Colorado Avalanche, with a history of division titles, playoff appearances and Stanley Cups, certainly aren't going to be one of them. They fired general manager Francois Giguere Monday, less than 24 hours after the season concluded with the Avs being shut out for a third time in four games.

What's next for this usually-competitive franchise? And what does Patrick Roy have to do with any of it?

With the NHL playoffs just around the corner, FanHouse takes a look at some of the lesser-known teams that qualified. Friday's installment: the Carolina Hurricanes

When the Whalers left Hartford back in 1997 to become the Carolina Hurricanes, they left a lot of things behind: the best jerseys in the NHL, Brass Bonanza, and, perhaps, most importantly, a losing tradition. In their 18 seasons in Hartford, the Whalers qualified for the playoffs eight times, and only once advanced beyond the first round.

Since moving to Carolina, the team has played in the Stanley Cup Final twice (2002 and 2006) while ultimately winning it all during the 2005-06 campaign. Heading into the playoffs this year, the Hurricanes are one of the hottest teams in the NHL, steamrolling the opposition. So, who are these guys?

Here's a scary thought as the NHL heads towards the home stretch -- Martin Brodeur still isn't in top form. After three games back from a torn triceps, including Sunday's 3-0 win over Philadelphia, there are still aspects to Brodeur's game -- recovery speed, conditioning -- that need the sort of work that will only come with more playing time.

Yet in those three games he's also 3-0 with a 0.67 goals against average and two shutouts. He's now up to career win No. 547 and career regular season shutout No. 100, five and four away, respectively, from breaking the NHL records. I know I've already gone all homer on how great Brodeur is, but in the two games since it's only become more obvious that this is unreal.

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NEWARK, N.J. -- While Tiger Woods' return after eight months from a knee injury ended on Thursday with a two-and-out, an anti-climactic finish to the hype machine, another sports legend returned from a major injury Thursday night. This one, however, delivered on the lofty expectations we place on athletes deemed to be superhuman.

Far from the spectacle surrounding the Accenture golf tournament, tucked away in an alcove called the Prudential Center, New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur posted a 4-0 shutout in his return from a torn triceps that cost him four months.

A couple of weeks ago, TSN hockey analyst Gord Miller came to the conclusion that in order for the Pittsburgh Penguins to remain competitive in the NHL, they would have to deal the league's leading scorer, Evgeni Malkin, for a first-line winger, a No. 2 center, and "hopefully" a pick or a prospect. It was a laughable proposal.

On Sunday night, Rob Rossi, Penguins beat writer for the Tribune-Review, appeared on a weekly Pittsburgh talk show and suggested the team would be wise to put Sidney Crosby on the trade block this offseason. I guess this is what happens when you go from being two wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup to being the No. 10 team in the Eastern Conference in a matter of one season.

I'm just going to come right out and say it: Sidney Crosby is underrated. There. I said it. I said it because it had to be said. Somebody had to say it, and I'm saying it. The man the NHL force feeds down our throats on every broadcast, commercial and marketing campaign has become so overrated that he's actually underrated. And I'm completely serious.