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Roy: Avalanche asking league, ‘Why not us?’

Patrick Roy, Tyson Barrie

Tyson Barrie #4 of the Colorado Avalanche and head coach Patrick Roy appear on the bench during their preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 28, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Colorado won 3-2. (September 27, 2013 - Source: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America)

We’re two weeks into Patrick Roy’s first campaign as the Colorado Avalanche’s head coach and we still haven’t seen him lose a game. The Avalanche are 5-0-0 after finishing with the second-worst record last season, but that only tells part of the story.

They have overwhelmed their competition, outscoring them 18-4. Rookie Nathan MacKinnon has been great as has their big offseason acquisitions, Alex Tanguay. However, those two only deserve a portion of the credit as seven different players have recorded at least four points this season.

Then there’s goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who the Colorado Avalanche have long believed in, but has been inconsistent since being acquired from the Washington Capitals. So far he has a 1.00 GAA and .970 save percentage under the guidance of Roy and goalie coach Francois Allaire.

“Right now we’re just saying, ‘Why not? Why not us?’” said Roy, according to the Denver Post. “We’ve been working hard every day, we’ve been remaining humble and know that we’re playing against very good teams. It was a tough trip ... but we’re very happy with how it went.”

Of course, there’s 77 games left in the Avalanche’s schedule. They still has many tests ahead of them, not the least of which will be seeing how they respond to their first cold streak when it happens.

Still, when Roy took over the team, the Avalanche were regarded with curiosity. That’s only heightened thanks to their strong start.

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