Patrick Roy responded politely, yet with a touch of incredulousness. It was as if the Avalanche goaltender had just been asked if he was considering taking his prized sports card collection to his daughter's elementary school, heading straight to the bicycle racks and attaching his most valuable cards to spokes.

Or if he would care to sign a nice birthday card for Mario Tremblay.

	Patrick Roy Goaltender Colorado Avalanche Profile
	CAREER STATISTICS GM W L T SV% GAA 971 518 301 120 .910 2.55

The question was: Now that Roy had tied Terry Sawchuk's NHL record for regular-season games played by a goaltender, at 971 games, and was on the verge of breaking it Thursday night at Phoenix, had he thought about cutting back on his annual regular-season workload?

"Cut back on games?" Roy asked after Colorado's 3-3 tie with the Oilers Tuesday night in Denver. "The day where I feel like I have to cut down my games, I think it's going to be time to say, 'Thank you very much.'

"I feel right now I'm playing very well, and I'm very pleased with the way things are going. I certainly want to be part of the success of this team. Every time Bob (Hartley) gives me the green light I want to go out and give it my best.

"I always expect that when I don't play as well, I don't expect to play as much. I think that goes with it, but as long as I play well, I expect to play a lot."

As records go, of course, this one wasn't across-the-top-of-the-page headline material -- not even in Denver. It was a tribute to his longevity and, indeed, as he takes pride in pointing out, his consistency.

"First of all," Roy said, "it's something I'm certainly proud of, and again it's showed me how much character Terry Sawchuk had."

Seventeen years ago, on Feb. 23, 1985, a young and untested Roy was minding his own business in the dressing room between the second and third periods of a game against Winnipeg. In English, Canadiens coach Jacques Lemaire told Roy to get in the net for the third period.

	“	I always expect that when I don't play as well, I don't expect to play as much. I think that goes with it, but as long as I play well, I expect to play a lot. ”
		— Patrick Roy

"I turned around and said to Guy Carbonneau, 'Did he just mention my name here?'" Roy said. "Carbo said, 'Yeah, you're going in.' I said, 'Whoa.' It was a big thrill for me, to get in the net for those 20 minutes. I didn't get any shots, maybe two shots, and I think the defensemen blocked more shots than I did."

It was Game No. 1, and after the Canadiens rallied to beat the Winnipeg Jets 6-4, win No. 1 for Roy.

Even now, he pridefully measures his regular-season work with the victory standard, so when he passed Sawchuk two years ago, reaching 448 and continuing beyond, that was his regular-season pinnacle.

Passing Sawchuk in the number of games played doesn't merit anything close to the same sort of attention as the victory record, but there are some kickers that go with it. It seems virtually certain that Roy's records will not be diminished by his now-unprecedented volume of work. This will not be a case of an athlete hanging on too long, padding numbers but chipping away at his long-term image. That's where Roy will have it over some of the men he passed on his climb up the wins ladder; say what you will about Roy, and there is no question he sometimes seems to have made as many enemies as saves, the man is a hungry perfectionist who will has a passion for being on the ice -- and more so, in the spotlight. He has made great money over the past decade, and he won't need to stay in the game for financial reasons.

All his NHL records are about mostly relentless excellence, resilience and a maintenance of his game at an elite level. Games played by a goalie is more significant than for any other position, because each start is an expression of faith -- even if the faith is that the coach is saying his other goalies stink.

Roy had his best regular-season a year ago, and that isn't based on the dearth of scoring in a choked and obstructed league: He was the only reason Colorado didn't do a free-fall when it was struggling in the first half of the season. After playing five games so far in 2002-03, his work is similar to that of a year ago. He has a 1.55 goals-against average and a save percentage of .942, and without staunch work from him, the Avalanche might be even farther behind the powerful Wild in the Northwest Division.

	ROY'S RECORDS
	REGULAR SEASON • Most wins, career: 518 • Most 30+ win seasons: 12 • Most consecutive 30+ win seasons: 7 (shared) • Most appearances, career: 971 (shared) PLAYOFFS • Most games, career: 240 • Most minutes, career: 14,786 • Most shutouts, career: 22 • Most wins, career: 148 • Most wins, one playoff year: 16 (shared) • Most consecutive wins, one playoff year: 11 (shared)

(Did we really just type that?)

Like so many fulsome athletes, Roy often is adept at rationalization and denial, and that might slow self-recognition of diminished skills -- if and when that happens. But his standards are so high, when the time comes for him to be, say, a 1-A, a 45-to-50-game-a-season goaltender, he would take that as an affront. It would have nothing to do with personal resentment of the "prospect" goalie, whether that's his current backup, David Aebischer, or second-generation NHL goalie Phil Sauve, down at Hershey. It would have more to do with his reluctance, or even refusal, to accept diminished play as a concession to his age. He would not take it as some sort of compliment, a means to extend his career. He would know that the Avalanche would have decided that something other than playing Patrick Roy as much as they can is the way to go, and he couldn't live with that.

It makes sense in so many ways to cut Roy back to 50 to 55 games this season. He turned 37 years old this month. Even his bowing out of Canadian Olympic consideration last year was a partial acknowledgment that his body could use the rest during the break for Salt Lake. (Yes, there were other factors involved, including a feeling that he should have been one of the early selections and he didn't need to jump through hoops for Wayne Gretzky or anyone else.) But the one reason it doesn't make sense to lessen Roy's workload is that he would treat it as an insult, and insults don't really serve to motivate him as well as pat-on-the-pads, you're-the-man compliments. No, Roy's NHL career isn't like Mike Keenan telling Grant Fuhr he's starting every night, but a consistent pattern over the past decade of Roy playing 62 to 65 games a season.

The most overlooked aspect of that is that Roy didn't really become a workhorse until his final few seasons at Montreal. The first season he played over 50 games was 1989-90. His 67 games in 1991-92 were the peak, but also the start of the trend -- one that has continued through his stay with Colorado, now in its eighth season.

"There were years where I played 50 to 55," Roy said, "and I didn't have any problem with it. I think everybody wants to play as much as he can, and that's what I try to do."

Terry Frei is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. His book, "Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming" will be released by Simon and Schuster in December.