Amid a slow start to the season, the New York Islanders made a shocking move with their bench Saturday afternoon.
The team announced that they had fired head coach Lane Lambert, but the big surprise was that they named legendary goalie Patrick Roy as his replacement.
The Islanders were widely regarded as an up-and-coming team when they made the Eastern Conference Final in both 2020 and 2021, being just one win away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final in the latter season. They lost both times to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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But in their first season at the state-of-the-art UBS Arena, they missed the playoffs.
The Isles were able to squeak in last season with an up-and-down campaign, but they dropped to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games in the first round.
Now, New York is the sixth seed in the Metropolitan Division, currently on the outside looking into the playoff picture.
The Islanders have struggled with injuries, particularly on the defensive end. Adam Pelech is on long-term IR, and Matt Martin missed six weeks.
But forward Casey Cizikas is currently out with a lower-body injury, and backup goalie Semyon Varlamaov has put pressure on Ilya Sorokin to perform even better. (He does lead the NHL in saves, but also leads in shots faced.)
Roy previously coached his former Colorado Avalanche from 2013 to 2016, but before that, he was widely regarded as the best goalie in NHL history. Some still argue that he’s better than Martin Brodeur.
Roy won four Stanley Cup, two with both the Montreal Canadiens and Avalanche. He retired with a 551-315-131 record, then the most wins in NHL history. (He has since been surpassed by Brodeur and Marc-Andre Fleury.)
The Hall of Famer was a three-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner (MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs), won three Vezina Trophies (best goalie) and was named an All-Star 11 times.
Roy’s NHL head-coaching record stands at 130-92-24. He was named the NHL’s Coach of the Year in 2013-14, his first season as a coach.
Roy had previously been the head coach of the Quebec Remperts of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey Leeague (QMJHL) since 2018. It was his second stint with the team, and in 13 combined seasons with them, he owned a record of 524-255-66.
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