The Avs announced Thursday that Roy will be the sixth head coach in club history, and Roy will also serve as vice president of hockey operations. He’ll work closely with former Avalanche teammate Joe Sakic, who is serving as the club’s executive vice president of hockey operations.

“This is an unbelievable day for me,” Roy said in a release from the club. “It’s a new and exciting challenge that I am really looking forward to. I would like to thank Stan and Josh Kroenke for this opportunity as well as Joe Sakic for the trust they are putting in me. Almost 10 years to the day that I announced my retirement as a player, I am back in Denver and hope the fans are as excited as I am.”

Roy has no NHL head coaching experience, but he did spend the last eight seasons as head coach of the Quebec Ramparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Roy also served as general manager for the Ramparts. Quebec went 348-196 under Roy and won the Memorial Cup in 2006.

“All along Patrick was our top candidate, and we are thrilled that he has decided to accept this offer,” Sakic said. “Patrick has a great hockey mind, is a tremendous coach and there is no one more passionate about this game. He will bring that winning attitude to our dressing room to help this young team grow.”

The Hall of Fame goaltender played seven-plus seasons with the Avalanche, where he won two Stanley Cups.

Some fan decided to take that admiration to new levels, though. As the Puck Drunk Love hockey blog points out, some creative YouTube user has found a new way to honor the movie series. That user made a video featuring Bombay, the former hot-shot hockey player turned lawyer turned hockey coach, as the subject of the ESPN documentary series 30 for 30.

The faux trailier is so good that not only does it make you want to watch the movie again, it also makes you wish they were actually making the documentary titled Gordon Bombay: The Minnesota Miracle Man.

Check out the video below, which was actually made last year but has just started to surface recently.

Alfredsson made news following Game 4 on Wednesday night when he replied with “probably not” after being asked whether or not he thought the Senators could come back and win after being down 3-1 with a 7-3 Game 4 loss. Alfredsson did say, however, that he wasn’t ready to give up on the team. He reiterated that  Thursday, just a few hours after making the postgame comments.

“There’s no denying we’re in tough,” Alfredsson said, according to NHL.com’s Arpon Basu via Twitter. “Was it taken out of context? Probably, but that’s fine. I can handle that.”

The Senators will play Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Friday night where they will try to stave off elimination.

MacLean did not take questions from the assembled media after the game, instead issuing one quick statement before walking away from the podium in a news conference that lasted all of 20 seconds.

“I think everything’s right here,” MacLean said, pointing to the game notes. “It’s 7-3. See you in Pittsburgh. We’re going to Pittsburgh, and we’re coming to play. Have a good night.”

Boom.

Check it out for yourself in the video below.

The rout gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals, raising the question of whether or not the Sens have a chance to come back against a high-flying Penguins squad led by the NHL’s best player, Sidney Crosby.

Ottawa’s captain isn’t too optimistic.

“Probably not,” Daniel Alfredsson said when asked if his team can come back to win the series, according to NHL.com’s Erin Nicks. “They have too much depth.”

Alfredsson, who tallied a goal and an assist in 15:47 of ice time Wednesday night, said his team will not give up the fight but acknowledged that his team has struggled to gain any momentum in the series.

“We don’t have much going for us right now,” he told Nicks. “Maybe that’s the way we like it.”

The Senators have been outscored 16-9 over the four games, with their lone win coming in double-overtime in Game 3. They will attempt to stave off elimination Friday night in Pittsburgh.

TVA Sports’ Louis Jean reports via Twitter that the Canucks have fired Vigneault after seven seasons as the club’s head coach. Additionally, assistant coaches Rick Bowness and Newell Browne have been dismissed, according to Jean.

Vigneault, who won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s best coach in 2006-07, won at least 45 games five times in his seven seasons. Vancouver also won the Presidents’ Trophy twice under Vigneault. However, aside from the Cup Final appearance in 2011, the Canucks never made it out of the second round, including first-round exits in the last two seasons.

The Flyers forward wrecked his Ferrari in a one-car crash in his native country Wednesday, but according to reports, the winger is OK after the accident. Voracek is “all good,” says CSNPhilly.com.

The accident, first reported by Sport.cz, occurred when Voracek crashed his Ferrari into a tree before hitting a utility pole, as well. According to the report, Voracek tried to pass a trash truck unsuccessfully, hitting the truck before the tree and the pole.

“I spoke with Jake this morning,” Philly general manager Paul Holmgren said in a statement. “He was involved in a car accident in the Czech Republic. Although his car did suffer damage, there were no injuries. Jake is fine.”

The car reportedly suffered $150,000 in damage, and Voracek was fined for speeding.

See a police photo of the car below, and click here to see even more photos of the scene.

While the contributions of Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton don’t always stand out on the stat sheet at the end of games, their efforts certainly don’t go unappreciated. Every now and then, though, their contributions extend beyond the little things and the intangibles.

That was the case Tuesday night in New York, as the Bruins beat the Rangers 2-1 in Game 3 to take a 3-0 series lead in their second-round series. The fourth line was on the ice for both Bruins goals, including Paille’s game-winner with 3:31 to play in the third period.

The fourth line in Boston is one of the best in the league, even if they don’t always get rewarded with goals, points or even a ton of ice time. But you saw how important they can be in Game 3, and that was even before they helped the club to two third-period goals.

“They were working hard,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “They’ve scored some big goals for us in the playoffs. I have confidence in that line, I’ve said it a million times. [Tuesday night] was no exception; they were on for both goals.”

The Merlot Line, as they’re affectionately known because of their wine-colored practice jerseys, was arguably the Bruins’ best line all night. With Henrik Lundqvist standing on his head for the first two periods, the fourth line was going to the net and creating traffic in front better than any of the other Boston lines.

That finally paid off in the biggest way early in the third period. With Thornton standing in the right side of the slot and Campbell parked in front of the net, Johnny Boychuk somehow finagled a wrist shot through the maze of white and blue sweaters. On a night where it looked like Lundqvist might pitch a shutout after allowing five goals in Game 2, the goal obviously gave the B’s a shot of momentum.

That goal sparked the Bruins in the midst of a siege on the New York end that hadn’t quite put the puck in the net. From there, the momentum was sustained until Paille’s goal later in the period that proved to be the game-winner.  It’s not the first time the fourth line has jump-started the Bruins in this postseason, either. At least one shift from Game 4 of the Toronto series stands out as a time when the trio gave the Bruins energy leading up to overtime, where the B’s eventually won.

The end result Tuesday was five combined points for the fourth line in the club’s biggest win of the year. Of course, with the fourth line, it’s not just the scoring. Paille and Campbell both saw a good amount of time on the penalty kill that kept the Rangers from converting on either of their power plays. Thornton, as he’s been known to do, was there to defend his teammate when Brad Marchand got into it with Derek Dorsett in the second period. Thornton had a word with Dorsett, and that was about the last anyone heard from him.

Julien’s insistence to “roll four lines” has been maligned at times over his tenure in Boston, but it’s tough to argue with the results at this point. The fourth line’s impact was immeasurable in the Stanley Cup Final two springs ago, and they continue to do everything that’s asked of them here in this postseason.

“They’re very capable,” Julien understated after the game.  ”You look at Paille’s speed; he puts D’s on their heels. Soupy keeps working hard and Thorty’s a smart player. … That’s been a good line for us. You utilize them because they’re good, not because you have to. “

In Game 3, where it looked like the Bruins might end up on the short side against a dominant goalie and a desperate hockey club, the Bruins’ fourth line was their best line.

The Bruins learned their lesson in the first round against the Maple Leafs. Now, when they have a chance to put a team in a difficult position, they’re looking to take it.

After nearly coughing up a 3-1 series lead to Toronto, the B’s are intent on taking advantage of their 2-0 edge against New York. Add in the fact that the Blueshirts came back from a 2-0 deficit of their own in their previous series, and you’ve got a pretty compelling case for the B’s to make sure they don’t let their foot off the accelerator.

NESN’s Naoko Funayama caught up with Brad Marchand on Tuesday afternoon to discuss Game 3. See what the Bruins winger has to say in the above video or on NESN’s YouTube channel.

His son, Max Domi, however, can do a thing or two with the puck on his stick.

Max showed that in a big way Monday night while playing for the London Knights in Memorial Cup action. The younger Domi made an absolutely sensational play in the second period of London’s game with the Portland Winterhawks. Max took a pass from Bruins prospect Seth Griffith in front of the Portland net, put it between his legs and then delivered a stick-to-stick saucer pass across the slot.

The play was made especially remarkable thanks in large part to Bo Horvat who finished off the play by banging home the pass from Domi.

See the incredible play below.

Moments after Kane pulled Chicago to within one at 2-1, it appeared that the Blackhawks had tied the game on a Viktor Stalberg shot from the right wing. The puck squeaked through Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard, and it looked like a tie game. However, seemingly as soon as the puck had crossed the goal line, it was waved off by the referee.

The call had been that Andrew Shaw had interfered with Howard in the crease and the goal was immediately waved off. If there is a replay with Sharp making clear contact with Howard, it hasn’t surfaced yet.

Making matters much worse for the Blackhawks is what came just about a minute later. That’s when Pavel Datsyuk beat Corey Crawford with a wrist shot at the other end of the ice to give Detroit the 3-1 lead, which is what ended up  being the final score.

See the play in question below.

Roy’s brother, Stephane, told the paper late Monday night, “They’re discussing the final details of an arrangement.” Stephane Roy also reportedly announced the news on his Facebook page.

A phone message was left with the Avalanche.

Colorado fired coach Joe Sacco on April 28 after a season in which the team finished last in the Western Conference.

Soon after, the organization shook up the front office, promoting Hall of Famer Joe Sakic to executive vice president of hockey operations. Sakic and Roy helped Colorado win two Stanley Cup titles as players.

The goalie gingerly slid his Rangers jacket on, with a painful grimace on his face as he did so before answering questions from the media. As he answered the questions, he grabbed at his left shoulder a couple of times, leading one to assume that he was dealing with some sort of injury.

“It’s my shoulder,” he admitted after the game. “We’ll see. We’ll take a look at it.”

After Rangers practice Tuesday, Lundqvist once again discussed the shoulder injury, but he was also quick to admit that the injury wasn’t anything major.

“Yeah, it’s under control,” Lundqvist said, according to NorthJersey.com. “I landed on the ice awkwardly and hurt it a little bit. It’s under control. Everybody’s sore. It’s the playoffs. You can’t sit out [because] it’s hurting a little bit. it happens, and you just have to make sure you do the right things to keep it good.”

The shoulder injury will certainly be something to keep an eye on as the series shifts back to New York for Game 3 on Tuesday night. Lundqvist gave up five goals in Game 2, marking the first time he’d been scored on five times since March 9, 2011, against Anaheim.

Greening may actually have a keepsake from his memorable goal that’s a little bit different than just a stick or a puck. If the Sens have good doctors, Greening may have a couple pieces of fiberglass to commemorate the goal. Greening took a high-stick to the face earlier in the game that left him with pieces of fiberglass in his face on his left cheek.

According to reports, Greening had the bigger pieces of the fiberglass from the stick removed after the second period, but that didn’t get all of the fragments. Greening had to get more work done after the game to have the smaller pieces fished out, a procedure that actually delayed him in meeting with the media after the game-winner.

The doctors took the big pieces of fibreglass out of Colin Greening's cheek in the second period, and the small pieces after the game.

—
Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) May 20, 2013

Greening on why he was late to meet the media: "The doctors were just taking some fiberglass out of my face."

—
Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) May 20, 2013

See a photo of Greening after the game in the photo below.

Photo via Twitter/@GoldAndOrSmith

Lundqvist was wearing that ballcap as he turned to face the media following his showing in the Rangers’ 5-2 loss to the Bruins in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series. Of course, after allowing a season-high five goals against the B’s, Lundqvist was nothing more than a pauper between the pipes on Sunday afternoon in Boston.

The all-world goalie, the goalie who many see as the best in the world, didn’t exactly prove it in Game 2. But it’s not like it was totally his fault, either, at least not according to him.

“I thought I was in position but [there were] a couple screens and when you give up five goals you can’t be satisfied obviously,” Lundqvist said. “You have to look at the way they scored goals, too. It’s about teamwork out there and today it didn’t really work for us. We just have to talk it through and I have to better and the guys in front of me have to step it up as well.”

In Lundqvist’s defense, the Rangers made some horrible plays in their own end in front of him. Whether it was anything Dan Girardi did at any point when he was in his own end or Derek Brassard‘s uninspired back-check on Milan Lucic‘s third-period goal, or anything in between, the Rangers certainly weren’t airtight defensively.

But still, if you’re going to be one of the best goalies in the world, you can’t let a team hang a five-spot on you in the playoffs. Yet the Vezina finalist was beyond reproach when it came to his head coach discussing his play after the game.

“I’m not evaluating our goaltending,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said after the game. “I don’t need to evaluate Henrik. We know what Henrik is.”

Lundqvist entered the 2013 season having dominated the Bruins in his time with the Rangers. However, the Bruins have started to solve the riddle, relatively speaking. The B’s had scored at least three goals in all four of their games against Lundqvist leading up to Game 2 in which they hung five on him. The Bruins continue to do all of the little things right, and that’s not only helping them get pucks by the usually impenetrable Lundqvist, but it also has Boston halfway to advancing to the Eastern Conference finals.

“I think playing the Bruins is about paying attention to details in the game and I think they have been the better team in that department,” Lundqvist offered. “All the details in the game, they play a solid team game and so do we but when you lack that little bit it’s a tough game. But I’m confident and I’m going to go home and try to play a strong game in the next one.”

However, it also helps that Lundqvist might not be at 100 percent right now. He seemed to be favoring his left arm in the third period, and he grimaced as he put on his windbreaker before addressing the media in the New York dressing room.

“It’s my shoulder,” he confirmed. “We’ll see. We’ll take a look at it.”

Whether it’s getting healthy, improving his play or a little bit of both, something needs to change for Lundqvist and the Rangers moving forward. If not, this series will be over very soon.

Torres was suspended by the NHL for a vicious hit on Kings center Jarrett Stoll during Game 1, and Sharks general manager Doug Wilson took exception to the decision and it has cost the organization $100,000, according to CBS Sports.

Wilson commented on the suspension saying, “comparing the facts of this incident against the actual wording of Rule 48.1, it appears that the NHL has not only made an inappropriate application of this rule but is trying to make an example out of a player who is being judged on past events, one who has changed his game dramatically this season and taken only six minor penalties in 39 games.”

The NHL fined the team for Wilson’s comments, saying that they were a violation of league rules that bar teams from making official statements in the 48-hour window after a disciplinary ruling has been made. That violation carries a $25,000 fine. The league fined the team an additional $75,000 because of the “inappropriate nature” of Wilson’s comments.

Photo via Facebook/KTVU Channel 2

As the series now shifts back to the Big Apple, it will be up to Boston to keep the pressure on and prevent the Blueshirts from clawing their way back into the series. After all, the Rangers were in a similar spot in Round 1 after falling behind two games to none against the Capitals, only to come back and win in seven.

If the Bruins keep playing like they have thus far, the series might not make it that far. They’ve been firing on all cylinders through the first two games of the series, with young defensemen like Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski filling in ably for injured veterans Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden.

Check out the best photos from Game 2 >>

The Bruins’ fourth line has no shortage of fans around the Boston area, thanks to the unit’s energetic play that seems to come through just when the B’s need it the most. That line could also be a difference-maker during the team’s Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Rangers.

According to NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley, the Boston forwards could end up playing a key role in this series because the Rangers just don’t have the depth up front to match up with the B’s. On defense, however, the two tell a different tale.

See what Jack and Brick have to say in the the video above or on NESN’s YouTube channel.

Crosby recorded the second playoff hat trick of his career as the Penguins built an early lead in Game 2 against the Senators then held off an Ottawa rally to win 4-3. Pittsburgh now holds a 2-0 advantage in the teams’ Eastern Conference semifinal series, with the Senators now needing a win at home in Game 3 to avoid falling into the treacherous 3-0 hole.

Check out all three of Crosby’s tallies in the video below.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Sharks 4-3 at Staples Center in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. However, there was at least one fan in the building who probably wishes he hadn’t been there.

Cameras caught some fleeting glimpses of a man decked out in a full head-to-toe bunny costume, which, granted, is probably a lot cheaper to rent this time of year being that we’re past Easter. We don’t know the whole back story, but it appears the man (or woman, for all we know) is actually a San Jose Sharks fan who lost a bet. One fan captured a picture of the hare loose in the concourse, wearing a sign around its neck proclaiming “Sharks fan that lost a bet. Go Kings go!”

Check out an animation of the rabbit hopping to it, showing off some dance moves below.

GIF via Twitter/@cjzero

Thumbnail photo via Wikimedia Commons/Staples Center