An NHL legend came very close to making his return last night.

One NHL legend came oh so close to making a brief comeback last night.

The Colorado Avalanche have the good fortune of having one of the all-time greats, Patrick Roy, behind their bench as their head coach, but he came very close to lacing up his skates as a player once again. With starter Semyon Varlamov being sent back to Colorado to deal with his civil trial the Avalanche were left with Calvin Pickard, who usually fills the back up role behind Varlamov, and Roman Will who was called up to fill the hole left by Varlamov's departure.

However during the day there were reports that Pickard was seriously ill, and with no other potential back up option, it really looked like Roy would be suiting up, so much so that he was even on the ice in practice in full equipment running drills.

Unfortunately for fans, Pickard was able to shake off his illness and Roy was not needed for the game, but it would have been incredible to see 33 back on the ice, regardless of form.

[pub]