Le Roy Sur La Glace

Former AHLer and Son of NHL Hall of Fame Goaltender Will Play for the Stingers Next Season

SportsVince Morello — Published January 26, 2015 | Updated January 27, 2015 at 1:04am

“Just compete, have heart and just be a good person,” Frederick Roy said during a break in practice, when asked what his father taught him about hockey. “If you go out there and compete every night, and you work hard and you care, that’s the most important thing.

“[There’s] just a lot of passion in the family [for] hockey,” Roy added. “Just watching [Patrick] and going to practices and skating with the guys, it just comes upon you and you fall in love with it.”

The journey that led Frederick Roy to the Stingers is not as decorated as his father’s, but is still a unique story. After playing five seasons with the Quebec Remparts in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, he played two seasons with the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League.

“[The] AHL is a very strong league,” said Roy. “For me to get the opportunity to play there for two years, I had a blast. It was a great experience.”

Despite having two years in the AHL under his belt, Roy abruptly decided he would retire from pro hockey at 23 to pursue a degree in finance.

“I really wanted to go back to school, that was my main focus,” Roy said. “The way I looked at it was, ‘after hockey, what am I going to do?’

“You can play until you’re 32 and after that you don’t have an education. […] I thought about what I wanted, what I really wanted in my heart, and that was to go back to school and get a good education.”

Having played in a professional league, Roy is ineligible to play until September according to Canadian Interuniversity Sport rules, but that has not stopped him from practicing with his teammates.

Roy has found it easy to adjust to his new surroundings and brings veteran experience to the lineup, which was evident in practice as he offered tips to players during drills.

“It’s been pretty easy, honestly,” Roy said about his early days with the Stingers. “Obviously [I’m] just practicing, but other than that the guys have been great, helping me a lot, the coach has been great.”

Stingers head coach Kevin Figsby is excited to see the team’s newest addition already having an impact in the locker room.

“Anytime you add a player of Fred’s calibre who’s played pro before to your locker room, it gives the players a little more to aspire to,” Figsby said. “[The players] get the opportunity to talk to him about his experiences.”

While playing for the Remparts in the QMJHL, Roy became familiar with many current Stinger players, especially current captain Olivier Hinse. Hinse and Roy both played on the Remparts together, a major factor when Roy was deciding which university to study at.

“[Hinse is] a good guy, great person and we had a blast when we played together,” Roy said.

The coaching staff and Hinse had similar things to say of Roy.

“It’s great, I played with him before in Quebec and he’s one of my great friends,” said Hinse. “I’m really happy that he’s here with us and he’s going to help us a lot next year, that’s for sure.”

“[Roy’s] positive all the time, he’s fun to have around, he’s got a great sense of humour and he’s got a tremendous work ethic,” said Figsby. “Those are things we look for in our program.”

When Roy is eligible to play next year, he hopes that he can use his experience to help the team win.

“I think I can bring a lot of energy. I’m a smart player on the ice. My hockey sense is really good,” Roy said. “I can bring that and a lot of character as well. I’ve always been that type of person, and I can bring those attributes.”

Video by Evgenia Choros