The New York Islanders are looking to save their season by hiring Patrick Roy as coach. They’re also trying to right a wrong from two years ago.
Hindsight is of course 20/20, but Lou Lamoriello’s decision to part ways with coach Barry Trotz following the 2021-22 season feels like a line of demarcation in his tenure as general manager of the Islanders.
Lamoriello tried to rectify that as best he could when Trotz’s replacement, Lane Lambert, was dismissed Saturday in favor of Roy.
The decision to fire Trotz in May 2022 was a confusing one then and even more now. Trotz led the Islanders to the Stanley Cup Playoffs three times in four seasons as coach, including back-to-back Eastern Conference Final appearances before missing the postseason in 2022. Lamoriello said the Islanders needed a “new voice” when he sacked Trotz, a two-time Jack Adams Award winner and 2018 Stanley Cup champion with the Washington Capitals.
Instead of hiring another high-profile coach, the Islanders promoted Lambert to replace Trotz. They also did little to change the roster mix, though forward Bo Horvat was a big-time acquisition in January 2023. The Islanders still have 12 players remaining from Trotz’ last game behind the bench.
Keeping the band together and promoting Lambert was an insular decision.
Lambert led the Islanders to the postseason in his one full season as coach, finishing 42-31-9 last season. But they were dumped in six games by the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference First Round. And while they’ve stayed above water this season thanks in large part to an NHL-high 11 OTLs (no other team has more than 9), a recent four-game skid (0-3-1) ultimately spelled the end for Lambert.
The Islanders (20-15-11) are two points out the second wild card into the playoffs from the East. But their minus-20 goal differential paints a picture of a team in major need of better all-around play.
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Patrick Roy hired as Islanders coach
Enter Roy.
“I think it’s all encompassing, it’s the package whenever you talk about any individual,” Lamoriello explained about his new hire. “Primary is you have to be able to coach, and Patrick can flat-out coach. He’s fiery, he loves the game and I think it’s great.”
Lamoriello is putting all his eggs in that fire basket. He’s hoping the four-time Stanley Cup champion connects with a core that’s been together for more than half a decade and could be feeling a bit long in the teeth. Islanders forward Mathew Barzal admitted they could feed off Roy’s well-documented intensity.
That Roy is a Hockey Hall of Famer, among the greatest goalies in NHL history and a proven winner, evidenced by his four championships and three Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP, also gives him immediate gravitas with his new team. That he was the Jack Adams winner as the League’s top coach in 2014 doesn’t hurt either.
For Roy, its a second opportunity to coach in the NHL after his previous stop with the Colorado Avalanche came to a surprising end after three seasons in 2016. Roy shocked the hockey world by resigning that August, citing a difference of opinion with then-GM and former teammate Joe Sakic.
He returned to the QMJHL in 2018 to coach junior hockey with the Quebec Remparts, winning the league championship last season. Roy said it was a transformative time for him to grow as a person and coach.
“Day and night,” Roy said. “I would say the thing I learned the most, two years off and back to junior for five years, I learned to respect even more today the work of the coaching. Coming to the rink early, working hard to help the players … it means a lot. When I left Colorado, I thought the phone would ring faster, and it did not. I understand the way I left Colorado had something to do with that. The player of today is different than it was in my time. I’m very happy I did this, and I’m very happy I received this call.”
Islanders win Patrick Roy’s debut, now what’s next?
And while it’s a small sample size of just one game, his new players spoke highly of Roy after the Islanders rallied past the Dallas Stars, 3-2 in overtime Sunday.
“I think Patrick was an immediate spark and sometimes, you have a coaching change like that, it lights a fire under guys,” Barzal said postgame. “That really means no one’s safe. When that’s the case, everyone plays with a little more jump and a little more juice. You could really see it tonight.”
Roy brings a massive personality and a bluntness to his new gig on Long Island. He once famously criticized star forward Matt Duchene for celebrating his 30th goal when the Avalanche were losing 4-0, so his top players are not spared.
And maybe that’s what this group needs. After those two deep playoff runs, they’ve been stuck in that mushy middle of no man’s land in the NHL. If it’s fire Lamoriello is looking for, he likely found it.
But if Roy fails to lead the Islanders to the postseason — and it’s an uphill battle in a very competitive Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference — it might bring Lamoriello’s future into question.
Outside of the Horvat trade, he’s done little to improve a roster that has looked the same for a half decade. His penchant for running things back with just minor fixes on the margins is growing tired for a franchise approaching 40 years without a championship, or even a Stanley Cup Final to show for their efforts.
Lamoriello swung big with the Roy hire, which was received positively in and out of the organization. Lamoriello deserves props for thinking outside the box with Roy.
That thinking outside the box, or out of his own comfort zone, may be what ultimately saves Lamoriello.