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. Fake Yeezys Store .com) - The surging Montreal Canadiens will try to match their longest winning streak of the season when they visit the Florida Panthers for Saturdays clash at BB&T Center. Fake Yeezys For Sale . Cox started the season with San Francisco, but was released by the team on Nov. 12 before being signed by Seattle, where he appeared in two games and tallied three tackles before being released on Dec. http://www.fakeyeezysforsale.com/fake-ye...t-350-v2/."; The game can be seen live on TSN starting with Monday Night Countdown at 6:30 p.m et/3:30 p.m. pt. The Patriots, who had a bye in Week 10, will look to continue the offensive success they had a week earlier when New England scored 55 points and racked up 610 yards of total offense in a 55-31 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Fake Yeezy Boost 350 V3 . Kenny Miller scored from the penalty spot and Camilo Sanvezzo came off the bench to add two late goals as the Whitecaps kept their playoff hopes alive with a 3-0 victory over the sagging Impact on Saturday afternoon. Fake Yeezys Online . Last year, Matt Kuchar closed with a 4-under 68 to beat Kevin Chappell by two strokes for his second win of the 2013 season and sixth of his career.EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The New York Giants have a pretty good hunch what to expect from Minnesota with newcomer Josh Freeman taking over at quarterback for the struggling Vikings. Adrian Peterson to the left. A.P. to the right. Peterson more often than not in the nationally televised game on Monday night between two of the leagues biggest flops this season. Watch the game on TSN starting with Monday Night Countdown at 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt. The Giants (0-6) are reasonably sure Freeman isnt going to know the offence totally after just a couple of weeks with the Vikings (1-4). That leaves Peterson to carry the load off, and thats not a bad option with the halfback coming one of the best rushing seasons in league history. "I think hes a different guy," Giants defensive co-ordinator Perry Fewell said when asked to compare him to some of the better backs in the league. "I watched him in the off-season study and hes really good. I see guys hit him, tackle him, beat him up, punch him and he just keeps coming. Hes got an iron will, and hes just a strong runner, and hes got a great determination to make those yards, and so we all have to be on the same page. Well have to swarm tackle. Well have to gang tackle. Well have to see what we hit and hit what we see." Freeman is the bigger question mark for the Giants defence, which has given up a league-high 209 points. He was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this month after a miserable start and signed by Minnesota because starter Christian Ponder hurt his ribs. Ponder is expected to be the backup this week. Freeman started 59 games over four-plus seasons in Tampa with his best being in 2010 when he threw 25 touchdowns and six interceptions. He had four TDs and 12 interceptions in his last six games and his quarterback rating of 59.3 this season was last in the league when he was released. "From the moment he stepped in the building, he wanted to learn. And the way he handled himself in that practice, it changed my mindset about the possibilities," Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. "We had a timeframe in mind originally, but watching what he did from the day he arrived, that cemented it for me that sooner was a possibility.dddddddddddd." When he was with Carolina, Giants middle linebacker Jon Beason played against Freeman a lot, and he knows the quarterback is a competitor. "Hes more than capable, hes a good dude," said Beason, who had a team-high 12 tackles against the Bears on Oct. 10 in his first start. "I know him personally, and he can make all the throws, he scrambles better than people think, so not having him on tape kind of hurts us on the defensive side because it leaves you guessing." Beason said the Giants need to stop the run first, something the team has done well in recent games LeSean McCoy of the Eagles and Matt Forte. Peterson, who rushed for 2,097 yards last season, is special, Beason said. But its a challenge he relishes. "Thats how you define yourself," Beason said. "Its all about what you do against the man. If hes the standard, then you want to see where you measure up." With the Vikings trailing against Carolina last week, Peterson was limited to 62 yards on 10 carries, a season-high 6.2 yard average. He was limited at practice on Thursday and Saturday and did not practice on Friday because of a hamstring injury. He has been listed as probable for the game. The Giants running game is a more iffy with Brandon Jacobs also fighting a hamstring. He did not practice on Saturday and is questionable for the game. If he cant go, the Giants will have to use either veteran newcomer Peyton Hollis, who was signed this week, rookie Michael Cox or feature fullback John Conner. The result is the Giants might have to rely more on Eli Manning, who leads the league with 15 interceptions. The only certainty is that this is a game between two teams desperate for a win. "Certainly we have to approach it that way in our preparation, and when were on the flight to go over there we have to approach this with a must-win mentality," Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway said. "And our coaches need to coach like that. Our players need to play like that. We just have to have that approach all week, that every game at this point is a must win." ' ' '