Roy took over the team in midseason. The team went 20-12-5 overall and 8-0-1 down the stretch to earn a playoff berth.
There are good coaches in the National Hockey League. Some stand out to the average fan. You can tell just by the eye test. That’s the case with Islanders head coach Patrick Roy.
Remember that this team was not even in the playoff picture just a few weeks ago. They were losing games and struggling to score. They also routinely blew leads in the third period, which was their season’s story. Everyone thought they were done after the Islanders lost six straight only a few weeks ago. But to their credit, they never gave up on themselves.
That’s where coaching comes into play. When things are bleakest, someone has to rally the players, especially on game day. That’s the job of a head coach. Roy somehow had his players believing. He was always encouraging yet frank about their play. Roy never ripped his players publicly; he would talk to them one-on-one about doing better. He had his players work hard at practice and acted more like a teacher.
Roy’s success as a player and coach brought gravitas. He knew what he was doing out there. He has a dynamic personality, and players respond to him. That’s what sold Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello to hire him after firing Lane Lambert in January. He knew Lambert was a solid coach who could become a better one in time, but he wasn’t getting the results to win games, and his players hadn’t responded to him during a losing streak in December that cost him his job. He needed to find someone to give the team direction from the bench, and Roy served as that tonic.
Credit Lamoriello for taking a chance on him when no one else would since Roy was not a company man to other teams. That’s what makes him so unique as a head coach today, where coaches follow orders from their superiors rather than make decisions based on their convictions. It explains why he hasn’t received a second chance to coach in the NHL after resigning as the Avalanche coach. Roy and Joe Sakic, Avs president of hockey operations, disagreed on many things. Say what you want about Lamoriello’s micromanagement on so many issues, but he lets his head coach do his job on the bench.
Gil Martin of the Locked on Islanders podcast made two great points about Roy as a head coach on a recent podcast. He brought accountability and mixed-up lines. For example, Roy benched veteran players such as Simon Holmstrom to play guys like Sebastian Aho and Kyle McLean, and the replacements were productive. He would also mix up lines to get results offensively.
For me, the Islanders play like a well-disciplined team that plays with organization and structure of prioritizing defense first. The team doesn’t give up breakaway goals or allow so many rebounds that give other teams scoring chances, which happened under Lambert. This is where the head coach’s impact stands out.
Roy also had great instincts about how to use his players. For example, He used Semyon Varlamov down the stretch because, unlike Ilya Sorokin, he knew what he had in him based on his veteran experience handling a playoff race. It paid off when Varlamov went 8-1-1 over ten starts with a .930 save percentage.
Roy comes off even-keel when he does his press conference. He never says anything that doesn’t make sense. He offers well-thought-out answers regarding his decision-making and what goes on in the game. It was something his predecessor failed to do. Roy also feels comfortable talking to the media and acknowledging fans, unlike Lambert, who viewed it as a burden. That’s why the fans appreciate the current Islanders head coach. Being authentic is such an attribute of a head coach to do well.
All of what I’ve written is why the Islanders have a shot at beating the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Roy will try everything, whether it’s changing or putting a young player out there to give his team a shot. You know he will coach “not to lose” by (for example) forechecking even when they have the lead.
Having Roy on the bench offers a reason for optimism. The team is in the playoffs, after all.
