Roy’s return to Montreal with Islanders will be ‘fantastic,’ former teammates say 

MONTREAL -- Patrick Roy’s second homecoming as an NHL coach has this hockey-mad city abuzz, the legendary Montreal Canadiens goalie bringing his New York Islanders to Bell Centre on Thursday (7 p.m. ET, RDS, TSN2, MSGSN).

“It will be great. Fantastic,” said legendary defenseman Larry Robinson, the six-time Canadiens Stanley Cup champion who sat beside Roy in the Montreal Forum dressing room during the rookie goalie’s 1985-86 Cup-winning season. 

“They love Patrick in Montreal and rightfully so. He brought them two Stanley Cups and he’s always been a very approachable person. Good for him.”

Roy anchored the Canadiens to championships in 1986 and 1993, then won two more titles with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001. He would coach the Avalanche for three seasons, from 2013-16, in his first season winning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach, then left the team abruptly in August 2016, citing philosophical differences with management.

Patrick Roy takes the Stanley Cup for a skate after the Montreal Canadiens’ 1993 championship win.

Roy returned to the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major (now Quebec Maritimes) Junior Hockey League for his second stint of coaching, having bought an ownership stake in the team in 1996-97. As coach, he won the Memorial Cup in 2006 and again last season. 

His name has often surfaced in recent years when NHL coaches have been fired but the fit has never seemed right for those looking to hire. That is, until Saturday, when Lou Lamoriello, the Islanders president of hockey operations and general manager, surprised the hockey world by announcing that Roy was the team’s new coach.

He won his first game the following night, 3-2 in overtime at home against the Dallas Stars. Though Islanders media voted the three stars to New York forward Bo Horvat, goalie Ilya Sorokin and defenseman Noah Dobson, French-language broadcaster TVAS named Roy their first star.

Patrick Roy with Canadiens goalie Carey Price on Nov. 22, 2008 during a ceremony to retire Roy’s No. 33, and as featured in a painting by Michel Lapensee, commissioned by the team.

NHL.com spoke this week with six former Canadiens, all Stanley Cup champions with Montreal, who have a sharp insight into what fueled Roy as a goalie and a coach, each one now eager for his return to Montreal. 

“I think it’s going to be crazy,” Islanders special assignment coach Jacques Lemaire said. “I couldn’t believe that TVA gave Patrick the first star (Sunday) night.”

Then, laughing: “Here we go! There’ll be excitement on Thursday. Patrick will make things interesting. All the people are behind him and that’s great. I think it’s a great thing for our club, too. Hopefully he’ll be the guy who will turn things around for us.”

New Jersey Devils coach Jacques Lemaire directs his team during a 2011 game at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Lemaire, who won the Stanley Cup eight times with the Canadiens between 1968-79 and captured the 1994-95 championship coaching the New Jersey Devils under GM Lamoriello, figures that Roy would have more experience had he remained in the NHL after the Avalanche.

“But with the Remparts, coaching kids, Patrick could work on certain things that he might not have been sure of but had confidence in,” he said. “It turned out to be great. These are things he’ll now bring to the NHL.

“I think that Patrick and Lou will be a great fit. Certain people can’t work with strong people. They don’t feel comfortable, they don’t want these people to be involved because they probably don’t want to know how much they know. Or they simply don’t know. Or they feel threatened. 

“Lou wants to be surrounded by strong people. He likes people who believe in certain things and they’ll push for them. Patrick is another guy who is strong and doesn’t mind at all who’s going to be around. He wants people around him who are going to help him. If you don’t help, you’re out. If you do help, he’ll be with you the whole day.”

Patrick Roy leaps to avoid defenseman Larry Robinson and Philadelphia Flyers’ Brian Propp during 1989 action at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

Serge Savard was a teammate of Lemaire on all eight of the latter’s Stanley Cup wins, then as GM directed the Canadiens’ 1986 and 1993 wins, Roy winning the Conn Smythe Trophy each time as the postseason’s most valuable player. 

“I guess everybody was scared of Patrick because of his reputation, because of how he left the Avalanche,” Savard said of Roy’s seven years between NHL coaching jobs. “He had to start from scratch. He went back to junior, coaching the Remparts, rode the buses, then won the Memorial Cup again last year. I’m glad that he has another chance in the NHL.

“I think Patrick will be more humble this time. He knows that he’s not the GM, he’s the coach. Everybody is supposed to learn from their mistakes. It depends on your character and whether you want to learn. If he hasn’t changed, this might be his last chance. But I’m sure he’ll be a better person, a better coach. I’m sure he learned from his first job.”

Canadiens general manager Serge Savard (left) with coach Jean Perron and captain Bob Gainey following the team’s 1986 Stanley Cup win in Calgary.

Guy Carbonneau played with Roy on each of his Stanley Cup wins in Montreal, captain of the team in 1993, then won another with the Dallas Stars in 1999 before coaching the Canadiens from 2006-09.

“I don’t think that anyone ever thought of naming me first star after a game I coached,” Carbonneau said with a laugh, the RDS hockey analyst preparing to broadcast the madness of Roy’s Bell Centre return on Thursday.

“It's going to be fun, interesting. The Canadiens’ rivalry with the Islanders isn’t what it was against the Quebec Nordiques or is today against Boston or Toronto. But because of Patrick, there’s going to be a buzz around it. A lot of people will be asking why didn’t he have that chance with the Canadiens but I think he’s pretty happy where he is.

“I’m happy that Patrick is back, as it seems everyone is. I’m kind of surprised that it took so long for somebody to hire him. I don’t know the whole story about Colorado but he’s there to coach, not manage, and at the end of the day you have to take care of 23 guys.

Guy Carbonneau drinks from the Stanley Cup in Calgary during victory celebrations following the Canadiens’ 1986 Stanley Cup win.

“He’s always been a winner, he’s proven that as a player and a coach in the NHL and junior. What he did going back to junior proved to everybody that his passion was there for the right reasons. He didn’t need the money, he did it for personal satisfaction, and I’m glad that Lou thought he was the right guy. I’m sure he’s going to do well there.”

Carbonneau had a front-row seat, literally, to see what made Roy tick during their time together in Montreal.

“We drove together pretty much to every game, living near each other, and we’d talk constantly about hockey,” he said. “After a game, if somebody scored two, three goals on him, the next day in practice he wanted to talk about it. ‘How did he score there? What can I do to prevent that?’ He’s always been like that.

“Patrick has always been a student of the game. I was lucky enough to play almost 19 years with some great players and I’ve always said that in the playoffs, you really learn what kind of an individual every player is. At the end, you can pick a few guys who are willing to do anything to win. Patrick was one of those guys.”

Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau behind the bench during a 2007 road game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Don’t include Robinson among the great many who were stunned when Lamoriello named Roy his new coach.

“Nothing shocks me with Lou. He’s always thinking outside the box,” said Robinson, the two-time Norris Trophy winner and six-time Canadiens Stanley Cup champion who coached the Devils to the 2000 Stanley Cup and worked alongside Lamoriello in New Jersey in various capacities.

“I think hiring Patrick is a great move on Lou’s part. First of all, Patrick is a guy who brings a lot of passion and excitement to the game. Sunday night, he was very animated, talking to the guys, in their ear all the time on the bench. Maybe Lou thinks that’s what they need.”

Robinson was a 13-season Canadiens veteran when Roy arrived as a rookie, the two sitting virtually together in the team’s Forum dressing room.

Canadiens defenseman Larry Robinson defends in front of goalie Patrick Roy during a late 1980s game against the Flyers in Philadelphia.

“What I loved about Patrick, how I knew that he was going to be a good one, was his demeanor,” he said. “Nothing fazed him. He was rock solid, nothing bothered him. Whether he won 5-0 or lost 4-0, he kept the same competitive edge. He was a guy who hated to lose, loved to win and he worked very hard.

“I don’t know whether his time out of the NHL hurt or helped him. What would have harmed him more would have been had he been out of hockey after Colorado. But whether it’s played at the NHL or peewee level, it’s still hockey. It doesn’t change. He’s kept his hand in there with the Remparts and he’s proven he’s a winner, both as a player and a coach.”

Bob Gainey, the greatest defensive forward of his era and five-time Canadiens Stanley Cup champion who was captain of Roy’s first of two in Montreal, expects another rousing ovation for the Islanders coach.

“I absolutely, 100-percent think that it will be a good welcome for him,” said Gainey, who won a sixth championship as GM of the 1998-99 Dallas Stars. “I was at the Bell Centre when Patrick’s jersey was retired. The reception he got was warm, sincere, over the top and I think he’ll relive that moment on Thursday.

Canadiens captain Bob Gainey backs up rookie goalie Patrick Roy, doing the rare two-pad stack, during a 1986 game in Calgary against the Flames.

“The Canadiens are getting a little stronger on their own. They’ve got some young, exciting players and this is just an added bonus for their fans, to enjoy this night with one of their former great players coming back into the building.”

Gainey very much liked what he saw from Roy and his Remparts during the 2023 Memorial Cup tournament and thinks that Roy and Lamoriello will “be a good marriage.”

“I haven’t spent much time around Patrick in a long time but he is all the adjectives that have been coming out, I’m sure. He’s super competitive, he’s driven… when you have somebody of his status who reorganizes a Quebec (major-junior) team and wins championships in 2006 and last season, he wants to be involved. He has great pedigree for the NHL, even though he’s been away for a few years. I think it’s great for him.”

Roy and Lamoriello will need to find the balance, Gainey said, “of securing the players and coaching the players. It’s an important balance that doesn’t always exist and maybe seldom is a pure fit. I don’t see that Lou Lamoriello has ever been unnerved by having smart, strong people around him.

Patrick Roy behind the Colorado Avalanche bench during the coach’s first game in Montreal as a coach, a 6-3 loss to the Canadiens on March 18, 2014.

“When you’ve been on championship teams as he and Patrick have, you need to have a lot of strong people. If that worries you, then you’re not going to be on a championship team because you want to find a place where nobody’s going to be eating your lunch.”

Whether Roy grew more humble between NHL jobs “is a question for him,” Gainey said. “But from a distance, I’d say that he loves being around the competition.

“He’d been in Quebec City before, dealing with that age of players, the many responsibilities that go with that – a lot of guidance, mentoring, fathering. He seemed to enjoy it and bought into the whole package. I’m sure there are things he learned that we all do: some things that we do work, and others don’t.”

Defenseman Patrice Brisebois cut to the chase about the goalie who won an NHL-record 10 consecutive overtime games during their run together to the Canadiens’ 1993 Stanley Cup.

“The word is passion,” Brisebois said. “Love him or hate him, Patrick is a winner. He will do anything and everything to win. Some players are leaders, some are followers. Patrick is a leader. Sometimes he’d get right in the face of his teammates after a bad performance.

“You know how goalies are: they’re usually in their zone, superstitious… Patrick wasn’t a shy guy. If you weren’t playing well, he’d tell you that to your face. It’s one thing to say things, but you have to back up your words after that.

Defenseman Patrice Brisebois with GM Serge Savard and the 1993 Stanley Cup, and during a 1994 game.

“Patrick would do anything to win a game or a championship. That’s what I like about him: his passion for winning. No one was happier than me when we went to 10 straight overtime games in 1993. I knew we weren’t going to lose with him in goal, and we never did.”

Brisebois fondly recalls Roy’s trademark competitive fire, no matter the situation, no matter the shooter.

“Even in practice, he hated when guys scored on him,” he said. “He tried to stop every one of them. He’d say, ‘If you want to score on me, it’s going to have to be a perfect shot.’

“His competitiveness is outstanding. If I’m an Islanders player and I know that Patrick Roy is my coach, I’d better be ready because I’m going to have to work, be a good teammate and give everything for my team. That’s what he expects from his players and that’s what he expected of his teammates and himself when he played.”

Brisebois, like many, is surprised that it took Roy so long to land another NHL job.

“Last Saturday, everybody was saying, ‘What a hire! This is great for the NHL!’ But what took so long? The guy is a winner. As an owner or a GM, I want the guy who’s going to light a fire under my players, who’s here to win.

“It took an 81-year-old guy to take a chance on Patrick and for that, I say to Lou Lamoriello, ‘Wow.’ ”

Top photo: New York Islanders coach Patrick Roy behind his team’s bench on Jan. 21, 2024, Roy’s first game a 3-2 overtime win against the visiting Dallas Stars.