FanHouse Tony Granato

The housecleaning is complete in Denver.

After a horrific season that saw the Colorado Avalanche miss the playoffs for just the second time in 13 seasons since moving from Quebec, head coach Tony Granato has paid for this misdeed with his job. Granato, in his second tour of duty as the team's head coach, was fired Wednesday, along with five other members of the organization. TSN also reports that former assistant general manager Craig Sherman will take over as the club's new general manager.

For the past week there has been a lot of speculation as to whether or not Patrick Roy would return to the Colorado Avalanche under the coach/GM role they offered the team's former goalie.

On Wednesday came a conclusion to the story. Roy explains that he has turned down the Avalanche offer for family reasons.

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.

I'm pretty sure I have said this before, but I'll risk being repetitive, because I think it's important. Coaches tend to get way too much credit when things go well, and even more of the blame when things go poorly. This has been especially true, for some odd reason, in the NBA and NHL over the years. Turnover is ridiculous.

Tony Granato is in his second stint as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. His first shot at the job lasted not even two full seasons, before Joel Quenneville was brought in. When Quenneville left, Granato got a second opportunity. Unfortunately for him, the help from management and the players has been horribly inadequate.

Each Wednesday, two of our bloggers will take on one league-wide topic. A mediator keeps orderly. It's quite a bit like the shootout, actually.

This week's lineup features Eric McErlain's and Ted Starkey's takes on the NHL coaching carousel in the wake of Pittsburgh's firing of Michel Therrien. Yours truly will be the guest referee. Let's get started!

The only consistent thing about the Colorado Avalanche this season has been their incredible inconsistency. They've followed three game winning streaks with four game losing streaks, four game losing streaks with four game winning streaks, and so on and so forth.

Currently, the Avalanche sit at 12-12-0 on the season, two points behind the Nashville Predators for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. Complicating things for the Avalanche, as they attempt to make a return trip to the postseason, they received word today that they are going to be without their captain, Joe Sakic, who will be out of the lineup for the next six weeks with a herniated disc in his back.

Colorado head coach Tony Granato on the injury, as quoted by the Associated Press report:

"He's a guy that knows his body probably as well as any professional athlete I've been around. When he came back he felt great, he looked great, you could see how he was skating, it looked like he had his jump back and the back wasn't an issue at all," Granato said. "So, when he came off the ice after the shift in Phoenix and his back tightened up again, obviously it was an injury that was more significant than the first time it happened."

Here we are once again with another edition of Caption This Photo! Last night, the Avalanche and Kings played a pre-season game at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It's the annual game in Las Vegas and the Avs won the game 4-3 in a shootout. But the great part in about spending the weekend in Vegas is that there is much more to do than watch a hockey game. On Friday night, members of both teams participated in the Luc Robitaille/Shelter for Serenity Celebrity Poker Tournament. It's a great charity event and also game us some interesting pictures of NHLers in front of the poker tables. Take the one above picturing Robitaille, Tony Granato and PJ DeLuca, a member of the Avalanche staff.

Here's the original caption from Getty:

LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 26: (L-R) Former NHL player Luc Robitaille, Colorado Avalanche head coach Tony Granato and PJ DeLuca talk while participating in the Luc Robitaille/Shelter for Serenity Celebrity Poker Tournament at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino September 26, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Exciting stuff, right? No. Not at all. So let's see what you guys got!

I'll get us started and please leave your own captions in the comments!

Granato: Luc, you had a pair of twos! That was clearly a hand to go all-in on!

Robitaille: That is the LAST TIME that I ever take poker advice from you. Get away from me.

Granato: Now, see you've got 7-5 off-suit. You want to slow play this hand for sure.

DeLuca: Hey... Is that Jessica Biel by the craps table?

Sorry, No Photos