He didn't see it coming.

When Tony Granato received word today he was being released as coach of the Colorado, he was truly surprised, even though the organization very publicly perused Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy to replace him as coach, or replace Francois Giguere as GM - or both.

Granato was part of a housecleaning in Colorado, released along with assistant coaches Jacques Cloutier and Dave Barr, goaltending coach Jeff Hackett, assistant to the GM Michel Goulet and video coordinator P.J. DeLuca.

"No, I didn't see it coming," Granato told Sportsnet.ca, "After it became apparent Patrick Roy would not be joining the organization, I began thinking about preparing for next season fully prepared to continue coaching the hockey team."

Surprisingly, Granato bears no grudge against his team shopping his job even through he had two years remaining on his contract.

"I can understand how people close to me and those loyal to me might feel that way," Granato said. "But it's part of the business. From an organizational standpoint, if the Avalanche looked upon this as its best opportunity to bring Patrick Roy back into the organization as opposed to Patrick signing with another organization, then that is the way things go. I understood that."

The Avs missed the playoffs finishing 28th overall in what was an injury-filled campaign. That said, Granato said he was proud of his team's effort right to the end of the year.

"Obviously it wasn't the year we planned for," Granato said. "We stayed in the mix even when we missed Joe (Sakic) and Paul (Stastny) for an extended period of time. We knew it was going to be tough when he lost Jose Theodore in net and we probably had to play Peter (Budaj) more than he was prepared for. Right to the end of the year when we had to play teams that were battling for position in the standings, out guys kept fighting. They kept competing. For that, I am proud."

Although this is a setback, Granato has no intention of dropping out of sight.

"I love coaching and although it can never replace being a player, it is a close second," Granato said. "The game means too much for me to disappear."