ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Patrick Roys fiery personality was on full display in the opening game when the Colorado coach got into a heated exchange with Anaheim, banging his hands again and again on the glass partition until it tilted. That eruption set a tone for the season: The Avalanche werent going to be pushovers. Not with the combustible Hall of Fame goaltender taking over behind the bench. Roy guided this franchise -- the one he led to two Stanley Cup titles as a player -- back into the playoffs by tying a team record with 52 wins. They play Minnesota in a first-round series that begins Thursday. "Patrick is the ultimate winner. He doesnt accept anything less than winning," backup goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. "He did that as a player and hes doing that as a coach. "He does that when he plays golf, he does that when he plays cards, he does everything to win. And that has really translated to our team. He changed the whole mentality in this room, and it shows every time we go out on the ice. We play to win, so its fun to see that." As for that volatile temper, the players insist they rarely see it inside the locker room -- not after a bad period or a tough loss. This is their team, Roy said from the day he was brought on board, and he was there more for support than to scold. He was partnering with them, not ruling them with an iron fist. The breathing room allowed the youthful Avalanche to make some mistakes and learn from them. "They need to have someone who they can come up to and talk," said Roy, whos the fifth coach in NHL history to win 50 or more games in his first season. "Its their system." Roys only previous experience on the bench was serving as coach and general manager of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. So he leaned on his assistants, as well as former teammate turned executive Joe Sakic. Roy has been a little unorthodox in running the team: From pulling his goalie with two, three, sometimes four minutes remaining if theyre down a goal to assembling them at centre ice after a practice and having them all yell "team" at the same time. "If we want to be different than weve been in past years, then we have to do things differently," captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "Its been great to see his point of view on things. You see the team that we are. You see the team that weve become. "At first, you might wonder, Whats going on here? But its certainly working for us." No arguing that. They were 35-0-3 this season when taking a lead into the third period and had the best winning percentage in one-goal games simply because they played loose and with confidence. "Patrick empowers us," Matt Duchene said two weeks ago, before suffering a knee injury that will keep him out for the start of the playoffs. "Sure, he gives us a kick when we need it. But when he knows we need to be treated with a little bit softer (touch) and brought up instead of put down, thats what he does. "Hes very good at sensing the feeling in the room. Hes helped us all achieve what were capable of achieving." Perhaps no one more than Semyon Varlamov, who turned in a career season under the watchful eyes of Roy and goalie coach Francois Allaire, the man responsible for helping turn Roy into one of the best goalies in hockey history. Varlamov won a league-high 41 games this season, breaking the team record held by Roy. "Of course its a big deal to beat Patricks records," Varlamov said. "Hes one of the best goalies in the world." All this from a team that won just 16 games in a lockout-shortened season. "What a season theyve had," Wild forward Jason Pominville said. "Theyve completely turned it around." Really, the only big additions are rookie Nathan MacKinnon and the presence of Roy. "They must have done something right and Patrick must do something right to make that happen," said Pominville, the teams leading scorer. Indeed. The foundation for that transformation was built in Roys very first game in charge when he lost his cool and yelled at Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau, pounding on the glass. That was after a 6-1 win, too. Roy was fined $10,000 and reprimanded by the league. Wild coach Mike Yeo jokingly said he plans to "check the partition" between the benches before the playoff series. "This is a team that we have to have a lot of respect for," Yeo said. "Theyre an in-your-face team." Just like their coach. Wholesale Nike Shoes . His Chicago Blackhawks teammates werent shocked when he found it. Kanes career has been defined by his brilliance in the Blackhawks biggest moments, and his tiebreaking goal with 3:45 to play in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals will rank among the best. Fake Shoes 2020 . Funny, they looked like longtime friends during Pittsburghs 5-1 demolition of Dallas on Tuesday night. Quick to the puck and even quicker to the net, the Penguins top line overwhelmed the suddenly struggling Stars as Pittsburgh bounced back from a dismal weekend sweep at the hands of Philadelphia by jumping on Dallas early. https://www.wholesaleshoesusa.com/ .That is precisely what they got Sunday.The Ravens trailed at halftime and never built a comfortable lead against lowly Jacksonville, yet did just enough to squeeze out a 20-12 win to stay in the thick of the AFC playoff race. Cheap Shoes Free Shipping .com) - Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mat Latos had an arthroscopic procedure performed on his right elbow last week, the teams official site reported Wednesday. China Shoes 2020 . Mohamed Diame put West Ham ahead in the 47th minute before goals by substitutes Carlton Cole and Joe Cole condemned Fulham to a fifth straight defeat, keeping the visitors in the bottom three.ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Matt Flynn might finally get another chance to start a game at quarterback in the NFL. After being beaten out for starting gigs the past two preseasons in Seattle and Oakland, Flynn could start this week for the Raiders with Terrelle Pryor recovering from a concussion Flynn got his first extensive work with the first team at practice on Wednesday since falling behind Pryor on the depth chart in training camp and could start Sunday against Washington. "Ive been in this spot before," Flynn said Wednesday. "This isnt new for me. Im going to prepare like I am going to play. I have to do that to be ready just in case. Im going to do everything I can to prepare like I would be the starter this week and see where it goes from there. Nobody knows." Pryor has not been cleared to return to practice yet after getting hurt late in Monday nights loss in Denver when he was knocked out on a helmet-to-helmet hit by linebacker Wesley Woodyard on a quarterback draw. Pryor thought Woodyard should have been fined for the play but it was determined to be legal by the NFL because Pryor was a runner between the tackles. Pryor remained in the game for two plays after the hit as coach Dennis Allen said he showed no signs of a concussion in the immediate aftermath. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said all indications are that the Raiders handled the situation properly. The union routinely looks into how teams handle all concussions and spokesman Carl Francis said the NFLPA had no comment on the particulars of Pryors case. Pryor was cleared to attend meetings and have physical activity but needs to pass two more hurdles to play. He was taking a concussion test later Wednesday to determine whether he can practice Thursday and then would still need to be cleared for contact. "I think it was very mild, because Im doing very well," Pryor said. "They said Im taking very good steps toward being able to play." Allen said the decision on Pryors status is out of his hands until the doctors determine Pryor is fully healed. "When the medical personnel people feel hes fine and hes cleared to practice and play then hell be out there practicing and playing,," Allen said.dddddddddddd. If Pryor is unable to play, the Raiders will have to once again retool their offence after making changes late in training camp when the more mobile Pryor won the starting job. Using designed runs, read-option plays and scrambles, Pryor leads the Raiders in rushing through three games with 198 yards. Pryor is 12th in the league in rushing and his 7.6 yards per carry is tops among all qualifiers. He also has shown improvement in the passing game, throwing for a career-high 281 yards against Denver and committing no turnovers the past two games. Flynn has started two games in his career when he was in Green Bay, going 24 for 37 for 251 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in 2010 at New England and then throwing for 480 yards and six touchdowns against Detroit in the 2011 season finale for the Packers. That performance helped make Flynn one of the top free agents in 2012 and he signed a deal with Seattle. But the Seahawks also used a third-round draft pick on Russell Wilson that off-season and Wilson won the starting job. With Wilson emerging as one of the leagues top young quarterbacks, the Seahawks traded Flynn in April to Oakland. The Raiders gave up two draft picks in the deal and gave Flynn $6.5 million in guaranteed money as they planned for him to replace Carson Palmer as starter. But that changed when Flynn struggled in the exhibition season with a sore elbow and Pryor outplayed him to earn the starting job. "Obviously, I dont think it even needs to be said, I was disappointed," Flynn said. "I prepared the best I could and things didnt work out. Its not my decision to make, its not my job to make those kinds of decisions. Its something that you try to learn from. I can promise you it hasnt shaken my confidence. I still believe I can be a really good player." NOTES: CB Tracy Porter and LB Sio Moore were back at practice on a limited basis after concussions. Porter was hurt in the game and Moore was injured in a car crash Sunday while on his way to the team facility. ... DE Jason Hunter (quadriceps) did not practice. G Lucas Nix (ankle) and FB Jamize Olawale (ankle) were also limited. ' ' '