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Avalanche clear out last traces of Patrick Roy staff, including Allaire

The Colorado Avalanche are coach Jared Bednar’s team.

GM Joe Sakic has indicated that Bednar, the emergency hire last summer when Patrick Roy up and quit, “deserves an opportunity” to get a second year and that he intends to build a roster better suited for his systems. And since it’s his team, it needs to be his staff as well, so the Avalanche cleaned house on Tuesday.

Colorado announced it’s not bringing back assistant coaches Tim Army and Dave Farrish, nor are they bringing back goalie coach Francois Allaire. All three were on Patrick Roy’s staff before he resigned in August 2016.

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Army was there for six years, spanning three coaches (Bednar, Roy and Joe Sacco). Farrish was there for two years, and was a veteran assistant coach in the NHL and head coach in the minor leagues.

Assistant coach Nolan Pratt, who was hired before Roy left but never coached with him, remains on the staff. He worked with Bednar in the minor leagues. The Denver Post reports that video coordinator Brett Heimlich is also still there.

Allaire is the most significant name of the three, as the Denver Post explains:

Allaire, whose ties with Roy go back to the Hall of Famer’s playing days, is the long-time goaltending guru who made frequent and periodic visits to the Avalanche in Denver and on the road.

He was credited with being the “Wizard of Oz” behind the scenes when the Colorado goaltending was among the best in the NHL in 2013, but the Avalanche had the second-worst save percentage in the NHL this season at .894, to go along with their putrid 22-56-4 record.

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Spit-balling here, but would the St. Louis Blues seek out Francois Allaire, now that Ty Conklin’s out and Martin Brodeur wants to concentrate on management?

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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