Patrick Roy preaches defense, consistency as Islanders look to turn season around
Sunday is a new start for the Islanders as coach Patrick Roy coaches New York for the first time.
Following Lane Lambert’s firing, and the surprise hiring of Roy, on Saturday the former Stanley Cup-winning goaltender is excited to begin this new chapter. The Islanders return home after a 0-3-1 road trip that sunk them in the Metropolitan Division standings.
Entering Sunday, the Islanders sit as the sixth seed in the division after being near the top for most of the season.
Roy, whose last and only tenure as an NHL coach was with the Avalanche from 2013-16, is looking to infuse what he’s learned into this Islanders team, and a lot has to do with analytics.
In his first post-skate news conference with the Islanders, Roy told the media that while analytics have a hot and cold perception, there’s a lot of truth to what it can tell a team.
“We don't like analytics when you're in the bottom of the league and we like it when we're in the top of the league,” Roy said. “So that's pretty simple, but to some level, it doesn't lie. So that's a bit of what I said to the guys.
“We're in the bottom of the league with breakouts. We're bottom of the league of puck possession in our own zone. We're bottom of the league with puck position in the O zone. So there's some work to be to be done there.”
It’s never easy for a coach to jump into a situation mid-season and implement their philosophies with a group, but Roy plans to navigate it in time. For now, his priority is to focus on the Islanders’ defense.
New York has allowed at least three goals in their last seven games and has a -21 goal differential so far this season.
“I'm gonna do a cliche here, but defense wins championships, so we're gonna start worrying about our defense,” Roy said. “I always believe if you break out the puck, then you're gonna spend less time in your zone … there's no magic recipe against turnovers. Most of the time turnovers become a pretty good scoring chance. I really wanna make sure that we talk a lot about our breakouts, our diesel coverage and make sure that we do a very good job in those areas.”
Roy also wants this Islanders team to believe in themselves. The Hall of Fame goaltender recounted when he was with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 and coach Jacques Demers gave his locker room a speech that the players, including Roy, thought was unbelievable.
“Together is how we're gonna win. Jacque said, ‘We're gonna shock the world of hockey by winning the Stanley Cup’ and we were all looking around saying, 'Did he look at our lineup?’ but the man believed in it, so I want us to believe in ourselves. I want us to believe that.”
Of course, that Canadiens team wound up hoisting the cup and Roy hopes that happens on Long Island. Perhaps that won’t happen this season, but his new team will have to find some consistency if they want to get to their ultimate goal, and Sunday will hopefully be the start of that.
‘[GM Lou Lamoriello] really loves his team and I agree with him, this is a good team,” Roy added. “I believe we're capable of more consistency and working together. I'm curious to see how far we could go.”
