Patrick Roy has been named the coach and vice president of hockey operations of the Colorado Avalanche, the team announced Thursday.

“This is an unbelievable day for me,” said Roy in a news release. “It’s a new and exciting challenge that I am really looking forward to.”

Because of the holiday weekend, the team said the news conference to discuss the hire will be next week.

He becomes the team’s sixth head coach and will also take the role of vice president of hockey operations. Joe Sakic was named the team’s executive VP of hockey operations on May 10, and Sakic will retain final say on personnel decisions.

“I would like to thank Stan and Josh Kroenke for this opportunity as well as Joe Sakic for the trust they are putting in me,” Roy said. “Almost 10 years to the day that I announced my retirement as a player I am back in Denver and hope the fans are as excited as I am.”

For the past eight seasons, the 47-year-old Roy has been the head coach and general manager of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and has a 348-196-0 record.

“This is a very exciting day for our fans and a significant moment in our organization’s history,” Avs president Josh Kroenke said in a news release. “Patrick’s passion for the game of hockey both as a player and as a coach defines who he is as a person.”

George Gwozdecky, former coach at the University of Denver, said of Roy’s hiring:

“He’s been successful as a coach and a GM. They’re starting to put some of the pieces back in place that were here during the glory years of the Avalanche, and Patrick is another one of those key pieces.”

Gwozdecky, too, was a coach many Colorado fans wanted to be considered for the Avalanche job.

Kroenke added of Roy:

“He is a winner and is coming back to Denver where he created numerous special moments on and off the ice while helping lead us to two Stanley Cup championships (1996 and 2001).”

Roy retired with 551 regular-season wins and 151 playoff wins, which led to four Stanley Cups (Montreal in 1986 and ’93).

Roy was drafted by Montreal in the 1984 entry draft in the third round, and he played 47 games for the Canadiens in the 1985-86 season. He was traded to Colorado on Dec. 6, 1995. His last game was April 22, 2003, in the first round of the playoffs against Minnesota.

Former longtime Los Angeles Kings forward Derek Armstrong, currently the coach of the minor-league Denver Cutthroats, said the Avalanche could use a coach with “an iron fist.”

“It’s a great idea, and obviously he’s done a good job with his junior team,” Armstrong said. “He brings a high level of intensity to the game, he’s passionate about it, he’s been a big part of the Avalanche from the past and he’s a great coach. He’s ready for the step to the NHL and I really think he’s going to help with the young guys.”

Roy will coach under his No. 33, which hangs in the Pepsi Center rafters after being retired on Oct. 28, 2003.

“This move instantly re-invigorates the fan base in Colorado,” said former DU and Avalanche winger Mark Rycroft, who played against Roy when he was with the St. Louis Blues.

“Biggest memories I have of Patrick Roy is when I was playing my college hockey here and watching those epic Avalanche games. In my mind, to bring back a legend, a guy that’s got some real experience coaching, it’s a home run.”

Former NHL rookie of the year Ralph Backstrom, a former DU coach and longtime hockey executive who retired in Colorado, said:

“He’s proven he’s a champion and he obviously has the background as a player and coaching major-junior in Canada is a pretty high level.

“If you look at the ages of the guys he’s been coaching, they aren’t that much younger than what’s in Colorado. I think he’s the perfect fit. He’ll do well.”

Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360, adater@denverpost.com or twitter.com/adater

Mike Chambers contributed to this report.