Coach Patrick Roy

Patrick Roy, a coach in Major Junior hockey in Canada is an embarassment to the coaching profession.

Recently his second son was suspended for 15 games for deliberately checking an opponent in the face, after the whistle.

The Globe and Mail remarks in an editorial that "sportsmanship is not his long suit." This is a lukewarm condemnation of Roy's sense of fair play and what sport is all about. The Globe is hedging its remarks when it should adamently say that this behaviour is unacceptable.

The coach is responsible for his/her athletes' behaviour. If the coach stands by and watches this sort of stuff, as Roy did, he is negligent in his coaching responsibilities. No one would say that Roy was an angel when he played the game, so no one should expect hism to be a shining example of a coach.

The league should act. Patrick Roy as a coach should be disciplined as his son was.

Let's hope that coaches weigh in on this, to let Canadians know that this sort of violence is not acceptable. It's not sport. If the athlete did this outside a downtown bar, he'd be charged.