from Adrian Dater of the Denver Post,

Hockey thoughts on a Sunday ...

• Patrick Roy showed he truly does care what his Avalanche players think by adjusting his defensive philosophy late last week. It was a major moment, not just a minor tweak.

Roy has preferred a man-to-man defensive zone system but realized it was hampering his team's offense and changed it Thursday against Toronto. As TSN analyst Ray Ferraro noted while working the game, Avs forwards were fresher going the other way when they gained possession of the puck. All the one-on-one chasing of opponents too often left forwards gassed at the offensive end, and after consulting with his players, Roy decided to make the switch.

There may be situations in games when Roy goes back to one-on-one, but for now we should be seeing more of a conventional zone approach. Roy could have been stubborn and stuck to his one-on-one philosophy, but he has always said he wants a "partnership" with his players. He proved it again last week.

continued with more thoughts...