After Andre Roy went bat-poop crazy during a game against the Flyers earlier this month, Tampa Bay general manager Jay Feaster announced the 33-year-old enforcer would be sent home for a week as the team's "internal discussions and overall review continues" regarding that incident and others involving Roy this season. Well, the banishment is over, and Roy was scheduled to return to practice today with the Lightning. This begs the question: Why?Why, when Tampa Bay's season has had a fork in it for weeks, is Roy even being considered for a slot in the lineup? Why, after blowing his stack in Philly and "also other situations that have taken place this season involving Andre" according to Feaster, does Roy come back? The most obvious answer is for a further audition: He's got one more year left on his deal at $1 million per season; if the Bolts want him out of town, it doesn't do Tampa any good if he ends the season stewing at home rather than showing an iota of professional competence on the ice.
The more complicated answer is that no matter how crazy Andre Roy might have become, his teammates won't hold it against him.
This goes beyond the usual "he's a good teammate" rah-rah stuff and speaks to the unique role someone like Roy plays. His name was mentioned prominently in a Boston Herald story on the recent rash of incidents involving hockey enforcers -- Roy, Andrew Peters and others -- who have faced some discipline for their actions. Brawler Shawn Thornton of the Bruins -- did you know he was named after a John Wayne character, by the way? -- was asked about Roy's meltdown:
"We ride a fine line, you know?" Thornton said last week. "I don't know those guys personally, but most of us are fairly laid back individuals off the ice and you have to get yourself in a mind-set to play a game when you have to - for me anyway - go against guys that are a lot bigger most of the time.The Flyers were accused of replaying Roy's fighting losses to Riley Cote during the game on the jumbotron, which helped set him off. Here's where Thornton says what I believe most of Roy's teammates are thinking, if they embrace his return to the club:
"Emotions are high and sometimes they can get the better of you. You try not to let it happen, but it's happened to me in my career many a time. I've gotten a lot better at it as I've gotten older, but I'm definitely not innocent of it either. I've probably done a lot more stuff than what I heard they were doing."
"It's tough when you lose a fight, and I don't know if he did or not. But we're proud people, right? Nobody ever wants to lose. I don't like losing in Scrabble to my wife," Thornton said with a laugh. "And I don't want to lose a fight. It's my job. But it happens. You get in enough of them, you're going to lose one or two. It's part of the job."Pride is a powerful thing. Perhaps being embarrassed publicly by his opponents and then by his own management will be enough to set Andre Roy straight.
