Roy Has Islanders “Immediate Respect” After First Morning Skate

Patrick Roy made a strong first impression on Sunday morning, as the New York Islanders new coach held an intense and fast-paced morning skate.

Roy addressed the team at center ice before changing up the morning routine, starting and stopping drills and loudly explaining what he wanted to see from his new team. Roy lived up to his reputation as a passionate coach – one of the elements Isles GM Lou Lamoriello cited as a positive during Saturday’s introductory presser – and seemingly brought a jolt to a team looking to snap a four-game winless stretch.

“You saw [his intensity], it's there and It's infectious too,” Islanders Captain Anders Lee said. “He brought it this morning, I expect that to be extremely consistent. But first day here, it's exciting things going on with him and continuing to move forward here and build off of each day.”

There wasn’t much time for Roy to get his message across to the players, but the new coach felt his group was receptive to the new message.

“I felt like the guys are understanding the message,” Roy said. “I really want it to be a partnership, so they need to be involved with me in what I believe is the thing to do. And if they don't understand and if I'm not clear enough, or if they don't really understand the details, I want them to speak up and tell me and then I find a different way to explain. But today I thought it went really well.”

Roy can speak to the game from a place of authority. As a player, Roy won four Stanley Cups, three Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP – the only three-time winner – three Vezina Trophies and retired as the NHL’s all-time winningest goalie, though that record has since been broken. As a coach, he’s won two Memorial Cups and a QMJHL championship with the Quebec Remparts and won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s Coach of the Year with Colorado in 2014. That carries a lot of cache amongst the players.

“He just brings so much immediate respect,” Mathew Barzal said. “He walked in the room today and it was a different feel. [He's got] Conn Smythe's, Stanley Cups, maybe the best goalie of all time, so he's been through everything. He's seen everything. Been in every situation. I know he's going bring a lot of fire, a lot of passion. I'm looking forward to working with him and get to know him.”

The Islanders new coach said his first focus will be improving the Islanders defensive play. The Islanders currently average the ninth most goals allowed per game (3.36) and have the NHL’s 29^th ranked penalty kill.

“Defense win championships,” Roy said. “We're going to start worrying about our defense. I always believe if you break out the puck well you're going to spend less time in your zone. If you do turnovers over turnovers… most of the time turnovers become a pretty good scoring chance. I really want to make sure that we talk a lot about our breakouts, our d-zone coverage and make sure that we do a very good job in that area.”

Brock Nelson is one of the Islanders who grew up watching Roy as a player and said his persona as a player has carried into his coaching career.

“We saw that fire, that passion of the player that he is, it's no different as a coach,” Nelson said. “He came with a simple message and wants everyone to go out there and work hard. That's the foundation of it all.”

Noah Dobson, who played against Roy’s Quebec Remparts in his last year of junior hockey, called the coaching change a “shock to the system” for the Islanders, who as a team acknowledged that they bear responsibility for finding themselves in the circumstances of needing a coaching change. Nevertheless, Dobson, like his teammates is excited for what’s ahead.

“Obviously I have tremendous respect for Lane as a person and coach,” Dobson said. “As players you feel responsible, we know we have to be a lot better, but it's exciting for sure. For a guy like Patrick to come in we're all excited, energized and I'm looking forward to having him as our coach.”

Lee the last word on the first day.

“It was evident from the moment he stepped in the room, the energy and the passion that he's brought,” Lee said. “You saw that energy within the group and from him, so we're looking forward here to getting back to work and moving forward here.”