(Elmont, NY) “I love it. It’s what makes me feel alive. » It was already obvious when watching Patrick Roy gesticulate behind the New York Islanders bench, but if there were any doubts, they are now dissipated: Patrick Roy is back where he most wanted to be.
His return, after seven and a half years of absence from the NHL, took place in a winning context. His Islanders defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime, thanks to a goal from Bo Horvat.
A goal which concluded an emotional day for the man who was hired on Saturday, to everyone’s surprise, to come to the rescue of the New York team in full swing.
His day began with a morning workout of unusual intensity for an exercise of this type. So intense that he even dropped bits of French in his explanations.
It continued in the evening at the UBS Arena. Those who wanted a video presentation, a triumphant welcome, were disappointed. The arrival of the new head coach was hardly highlighted in the arena. At most we heard a few spectators chanting his name at the very start of the match, to the rhythm of a drum.
Knowing how the star of the day was feeling, perhaps it was for the best.
I was very nervous, I won’t lie. You always want to win that first match. I’m really grateful to our players for their effort.
Patrick Roy
Those who expected a fair like Roy’s first game behind the Colorado Avalanche bench probably also left disappointed.
On October 2, 2013, the Avalanche defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-1. At the end of the match, Roy began to shout at Corey Perry, before the head coach of the Ducks, Bruce Boudreau, got involved, which led Roy to completely fold the tape which demarcated the benches of the two teams .
“I just remember that we realized how much he took it to heart,” recalls former Avalanche defenseman André Benoît, contacted by The Press a few hours before the match on Sunday. “When a coach defends us like that, we want to play for him even more, we know he will fight for us. »
Jean-Sébastien Giguère, who was the Avalanche’s backup goalie that evening, has an identical memory. “Often, in hockey teams, you have the coaches and the players, one against the other,” recalls the man who is now an analyst at TVA Sports. But he wanted to be one of the boys, he wanted the boys to trust him. The guys needed that and they really liked it.
“Patrick is an emotional guy. But he is truly calculated in his actions. He wanted to show the guys that he had their back no matter what. He wanted to earn respect. We had a pretty fragile team, and he wanted to take the pressure off himself, so the guys could play hockey. I don’t know if he’s going to do it with the Islanders. But with us, after the first match, he was calmer during the season. »
Hockey has changed, Patrick Roy too. So in a match without much animosity between the two teams, Roy was obviously not going to start tearing off the tapes simply to show solidarity with his men.
It was nevertheless lively, particularly in the first half. In a cozy UBS Arena, “we just hear him!” », joked a colleague on the bridge. Roy increased the shouts, the instructions during the changes, the encouragement during stoppages in play. After Alexander Romanov’s goal, which gave the islanders a 1-0 lead, he rushed towards his defenders on the bench to explinations.
“That’s a bit of my problem in life in general: sometimes I should take the time to savor! », Said Roy, after the match, to Radio-Canada colleague Marc Antoine Godin. “But Pierre Lacroix always told me that you have to be at the front of the parade. I try to predict what will happen. But you’re absolutely right: sometimes I should take the time. »
PHOTO MARY ALTAFFER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Patrick Roy
The fact remains that his energy left an impression on his players. “You see it a little more than us. We watch the game! explained Jean-Gabriel Pageau. But we hear it. He knows his hockey. If he could play again, he would. He’s a gamer. It’s intense. It’s positive. He wants our good. »
He has so much energy behind the bench, it seems like he is playing the game for us. He is constantly engaged. He shouts words of encouragement, but also helpful advice.
Bo Horvat
Matt Martin: “We were blocking shots, he was screaming. We love it. He is fully invested. He appreciates the little things that everyone does. Not everyone can score goals, but he recognizes every little contribution. It has an effect. And he was positive. We blew another lead, but in the second intermission, he reminded us that we were a resilient group. This confidence then helped us. »
The fact remains that, as we wondered this morning when we saw him shouting in training, such a style can be draining in the long run. Roy also adjusted during the match. In the first period, he was red-faced like former wrestling manager Brother Love (look for his photo, it’s worth it). In the third period, he was in more normal colors. During the first commercial break of the match, he multiplied the instructions to the players. At the final break, with the score tied 2-2 with five minutes to play, he went silent.
Roy admitted he had to calm down. “At a certain point I have to let the players play and be themselves. You want to have intensity and show it to the players. They know that I am here to win and that I will be there for them.
This is how I am. Maybe it was worse at first. I like to be animated, I like the guys to feel that the coach knows where he is going, that he is alert in this or that situation. It’s up to me to find my balance, to manage my intensity.
Patrick Roy
Before the match, Roy had warned his troops. “He told us he might be a little rusty,” Pageau said.
Roy pleaded guilty after the match. “I haven’t been behind the bench since the Memorial Cup. It goes quickly ! We played against an extraordinary team, incredible in transition, the puck moves. But we gave away 42 shots, including 17 on turnovers. »
Despite the victory, Roy knows that he has his work cut out for him, that he will have to manage the famous “X’s and O’s” if he wants to achieve his goal of leading such a defensively porous team into the playoffs.
He will undoubtedly need an episode or two of emotion too, one of those moments which will unite his troops. Who knows if the match in Montreal on Thursday will be the scene?
In the meantime, we won’t be bored on Long Island.
Goodbye, beard!
The photo of a freshly shaven Patrick Roy, which accompanied the announcement of his hiring by the Islanders, did not go unnoticed on Saturday. Roy wore a beard during his last public appearances, but the obligation to be shaved is one of the many rules in the book that we guess is Lou Lamoriello’s imagination. “I told the players that it was one of the hardest things from the moment I accepted the job! », laughed Roy, in front of the cameras, Sunday morning. “But when I met Lou Lamoriello, I was impressed with the individual. It’s so easy to respect the man, his values, and to see his desire to win. In the end, it wasn’t that hard to shave it! »
A link with Bossy
A colleague from New York casually attempted a question about Mike Bossy, possibly the greatest player in the team’s history along with Denis Potvin. Roy and Bossy never played together, but knew each other well since they were neighbors when Roy wore the Canadian colors. “His daughter was the guardian of our children. One day, I was at a game and one of my sons got his head stuck between some stair rungs. And he had to come to my house to cut the bars, so he could get his head out! Roy said, before becoming more serious. It’s so sad, his death. He was good for TVA, he had passion and he made his mark with the Islanders. I am proud to be part of the same organization as him. »