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Time, apparently, does not heal all wounds. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Patrick Roy trade that shocked the hockey world and left the Canadiens, who dealt their franchise player from a position of weakness after citing irreconcilable differences, reeling for years in its aftermath.

For Roy, now 40 and retired from the NHL, the wounds of his stormy exit from Montreal remain as fresh today as the night the legendary goalie stormed off the Forum ice during a humiliating 11-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 2, 1995.

"It's not a date that is fun to remember, to be honest with you," Roy said.

"It's so sad how it finished in Montreal," added Roy, who led the Canadiens to Stanley Cups in 1986 and '93. "I've never been back there, not even for a game or anything."

Roy, who was not pulled from the nets until midway through the second period of that infamous game against the Wings - after surrendering the ninth Detroit goal on 26 shots - said he still feels he was deliberately humiliated by coach Mario Tremblay in front of a jeering crowd.

After removing his goalie mask, a steamed Roy brushed past the unyielding stare of Tremblay, who stood rigid with his arms folded behind the Canadiens' bench. Roy, his eyes like tiny drill bits of intensity, abruptly stopped, turned and moved toward team president Ronald Corey, who was perched in his usual front-row seat.

"This is my last game in Montreal," Roy told Corey.

It was. Four days later, rookie general manager Rejean Houle stunned Montreal hockey fans when he announced that Roy and team captain Mike Keane had been traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for three players: goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, and forwards Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko, a journeyman.

The trade paid immediate dividends for the Avalanche (formerly the Quebec Nordiques), who captured their first Stanley Cup in 1996 with Roy in vintage playoff form. Another Cup would follow in 2001, with Roy winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for the third time in his career.

"That Cup in 1996 was all about pride," Roy said. "I had only one name in my mind when I won."

Mario Tremblay?

"Exactly."

Tremblay chose not to comment on the 10th anniversary of Le Trade. However, in 1995 Tremblay defended his decision to sunburn the back of Roy's neck this way: "Maybe I could have told him to come to the bench after seven goals. I didn't. I waited for a couple more. Two more goals, I don't think, add up to a career."

The Canadiens have never challenged for the Stanley Cup since the trade and have missed the playoffs four times in the interim.

Of the five players involved in the deal, only Rucinsky (New York Rangers) and Thibault (Pittsburgh Penguins) are still in the NHL. Houle still serves in a public-relations capacity with the Canadiens, while Tremblay is an assistant coach under Jacques Lemaire with the Minnesota Wild.

"I'm not angry at the Canadiens organization anymore," said Roy, the head coach and part-owner of the Quebec Remparts junior team in his native Quebec City. "Rejean Houle has called a few times and told me I'm welcome any time, but I'm not comfortable with it."