Patrick Roy makes Mario tremble.

Was the tenuous relationship between Patrick Roy and Mario Tremblay the real reason for the blowup that happened that fateful night in December 1995 while hosting the Detroit Red Wings? As we now are debating the honor of having Patrick Roy’s jersey lifted to the rafters of the Bell Centre in Montréal, it is clear that Bob Gainey and the Montréal Canadiens organization have at the very least put the incident behind them, and possibly have now sided with St. Patrick even though his actions that night were deemed immature to most viewers.

Mario Tremblay for his part, was a passionate fiery player himself for the Habs and was actually Patrick Roy’s first roommate on the road when the young goalie joined the Canadians the same year Mario would retire.Tremblay was on Patrick's case right away with (good hearted?) ribbing about Patrick's lack of English skills.  It is more what Tremblay did as coach of the Habs that some could bring his judgment into question here as the team's new teacher.

That fiery passion often translated into a lack of leadership for Tremblay, a quality that a coach really should have and that without, will wear thin on players, and over time will surely cause alienation - which is exactly what happened in Montréal.  The day that Mario Tremblay was announced as the Montréal Canadiens‘ head coach, he and Patrick got into it during the very first team meeting that Mario called.  By all accounts of this meeting the squabble was more childish than professional.  It did however mark a mean spirited streak that Tremblay used to his advantage as a player, but couldn't control as a coach. Patrick Roy and Mario Tremblay never did get along as player and coach, and when you don't have the de facto team leader on your side, it's tough to coach in any circumstances.

There was another factor in this too in that Tremblay had to replace a coach that the player's really liked in Jacques Demers who also borught home a Stanley Cup. Regean Houle was also a general manager, trying to fill the shoes of Serge Savard and with the team not doing so well, the near future of the Habs didn’t look so great even with Patrick Roy in the lineup.  This was a very stressful time for Montréal fans AND Mario Tremblay. In looking back, a player of Tremblay's colors could easily be misguided by temperament.

Later in his tenure as coach of the Habs (after Patrick Roy’s departure), other players like Donald Brashear, Lyle Odelien and Vincent Damphousse found it a not-so-pleasant atmosphere.  The players that the Habs got in return for Patrick Roy were all eventually traded and none of them really worked out as true assets to the team, making Tremblay’s short tenure nearly impossible. It is simply an incident the parties could now look back upon and realize how easily avoidable it was.

Mario Tremblay is currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild, where he works with head coach Jacques Lemaire and general manager Doug Risebrough, who are both former teammates of the powerful Habs team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1970s.