Consistency Is Now Roy's Problem

In a move that fans had been demanding for weeks now, it seems that New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello had finally seen enough to make a change. Normally, Lou tries to shake up an apathetic team with a major trade, but Lamoriello went for the oft-seen change in dismissing head coach Lane Lambert following a season and a half behind the Islanders' bench where he posted a 61-46-20 record in 127 games. There were certainly nights under Lambert's watch where the Islanders looked more their the AHL affiliate in Bridgeport than the once-proud franchise that won four consecutive Stanley Cups, but I suspect those days will be seen less after the Islanders named Lambert's replacement. As of today, Islanders players and fans are in the Patrick Roy era on Long Island!

As it stands, the Islanders sit two points back of the second wild card spot that Detroit currently occupies, three points back of the first wild card spot held by Toronto, and six points back of the Carolina Hurricanes who hold third-place in the Metropolitan Division. To say that this was a lost season seems a little premature, but it looks like Lou Lamoriello made the change to keep this season's playoff hopes alive before it was too late.

"Watching our team play, I felt that the inconsistency that has been going on for some period of time was not going to end," Lamoriello said on a video call with reporters. "When I had the opportunity to meet with Patrick recently, I felt that this was the best for our organization to go forward."

The move to hire Patrick Roy - a four-time Stanley Cup winner as a player - might raise a few eyebrows considering that he hasn't coached in the NHL since 2016, and his departure from the Avalanche at that time saw the two sides part on less than amicable terms. It seems that Roy has used the time away from the NHL's bright lights to learn a little more and grow as both a coach and person, stating in an interview that he "has learned a lot about the value of coaching staffs working to help players improve."

Roy will get a chance to get his feet wet tomorrow as he jumps straight into the hot water when he faces one of the teams with whom he had an intense rivalry as the Islanders host the Dallas Stars. He'll follow that up with a home game against the Vegas Golden Knights before the Islanders visit his old stomping grounds in Montreal on Thursday. Needless to say, the former Vezina Trophy winner is jumpin right into the fire with two solid Western Conference foes followed by a team who is just four points back of the Islanders.

One has to wonder if Roy is the right man for the Islanders when one considers that he led the Avalanche to the playoffs in 2015-15 before taking significant steps backwards prior to his dismissal in Denver. The Islanders don't have the likes of some of the players that the Avalanche boasted back then, so I'd expect guys like Mat Barzal, Bo Horvat, and Brock Nelson to see a lot of ice time under Roy. The Islanders need scoring, and those three have been most consistent up front this season.

Players I expect Roy will want to see more from include Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Cal Clutterbuck, and Pierre Engvall, but I expect Roy to really bear down on the defenders as Ilya Sorokin's 3.21 GAA is simply far too high when one looks at his .908 save percentage. To me, that says the Islanders are simply giving up too many good scoring chances per game, and that has to change if they're going to rise in the standings. I'd expect Roy to really focus on defensive zone coverage before anything else changes.

In 300 games since rejoining the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts as head coach and general manager, Roy's teams have consistenly improved over those five seasons. His record is 175-96-29 is fairly impressive, but his teams went one round deeper in each of the four seasons where there was a postseason, culminating in a Memorial Cup championship victory in 2023. He won the Maurice Filion Trophy as QMJHL GM of the Year in 2022, but added a Gilles-Courteau Trophy in 2023 as the QMJHL Coach of the Year.

Of course, accolades mean nothing as we've seen some rather awful coaches win awards before. When asked if he's a different coach now than where he was in 2016, Roy answered, "Day and night... I learned to respect even more today the work of the coaching - coming to the rink early, working hard to help the players with ideas - and I really want to establish a bit what we did in Colorado, which was a partnership with the players. We want the players to buy into what we'll do as a coaching staff and help them to achieve their goals."

One has to wonder what his reception will be at UBS Arena when fans hear his name announced for the first time as one of their own, but Roy added later in the interview above, "Our fan base is extremely important, and I want our fans to come to our games and be excited for all this. I want our fans to walk in the street wearing that jersey and be so proud of that team, and that’s my objective."

It sounds like he's all-in in trying to get the Islanders back to the promised land, so I'll ask again: is he the right man for the job? As of today, the only person who can say whether he is or isn't that person is the guy who hired him, and Lou Lamoriello told reporters on the conference call, "Patrick Roy was the only person I was interested in. That's why he's here today."

That says it all - welcome to the Patrick Roy era on Long Island!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!