Lou Lamoriello has just struck a big blow. The hiring of Patrick Roy as head coach of the Islanders will create quite a commotion in the New York hockey community. Aside from the period when they monopolized the Stanley Cup four consecutive seasons, the Islanders have always played in the shadow of the Rangers. The same goes for the Devils. The arrival of Roy will give visibility and credibility to the Islanders.
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Lamoriello made the gesture that the Canadian and the Senators have not dared to do in recent years. In the case of the Habs, it must be said that Martin St-Louis is doing well for a coach who had not managed further than in the bantam ranks before his first try in the National League.
For their part, the Senators returned to the past by bringing Jacques Martin back behind the bench.
Admiration for the Canadiens’ alumni
Lamoriello has always had a weakness for former Canadiens players. Patrick Roy becomes the fifth former member of the Montreal organization to be hired as head coach by the venerable general manager to lead his team.
The first four, Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson, Pat Burns and Claude Julien, were hired by Lamoriello during his long stay as GM of the New Jersey Devils. The first three led the Devils to the Stanley Cup, Lemaire in 1995, Robinson in 2000 and Burns in 2003.
Julien had been less lucky. Despite collecting 102 points, Lamoriello surprisingly showed Julien the door with only three games remaining in the regular season in 2006.
Lamoriello approached Lemaire in the days following the Canadian’s last Stanley Cup victory, in 1993.
Serge Savard’s right-hand man, Lemaire knew that he was living his last moments with the Habs during the cup parade. He sat back at the back of the vast float that transported the players and members of the team’s management downtown.
Two years later, the Devils in turn paraded for the first time with the cup and Lemaire as leader. The event, however, had less appeal than in Montreal, since it took place in the parking lot of the Meadowlands Arena, in the East Rutherford marshes.
The team included Claude Lemieux and Stéphane Richer, who had engraved their names on the cup as members of the Canadiens in 1986. There was also Tom Chorske, who moved to the Devils with Richer in 1991, in return for Kirk Muller and Roland Melanson.
The Devils were banking on another Quebec player, a future member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, in Martin Brodeur.
Robinson took over from Robbie Ftorek in March 2000. The Devils players could no longer get enough of Ftorek, whose methods were challenged wherever he went.
Three months later, the Stanley Cup visited the Meadowlands for a second time.
In 2002, Lamoriello called on Burns, who was then working in the media world. Come June, the Devils won a third championship in nine years with a former Canadian behind the bench.
Big challenge for Patrick
Before wondering if Roy could succeed in doing the same with the Islanders, he will first have to lead the team to the playoffs.
Before Saturday’s games, the Islanders came to 11e rank in the Eastern Association. But their delay in eighth position was only two points. We can assume that his arrival behind the bench will give a boost of energy to the New York team.
We know the man; no challenge scares him.
A lot of work awaits him. But we know the man.
The Islanders’ offense produces less than three goals per game (2.93) while their goals allowed average rises above three per game (3.36).
Their most productive players are the speedy Mathew Barzal, the team’s leading scorer with 46 points; defenseman Noah Dobson, winner of the Memorial Cup with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, in 2018, and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, in 2019, follows with 45 points; and Bo Horvat (42 points), former captain of the Vancouver Canucks, whose services they acquired last season.
It’s going to be interesting to follow the Islanders over the next few weeks.