Lou Lamoriello has faith in St. Patrick.
The Islanders' general manager made some personnel changes behind the bench on Saturday, firing head coach Lane Lambert and replacing him with Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy.
At 58 years old, Roy's legacy includes complete dominance on the ice.
Between the pipes, no one could have done it better.
NHL fans who remember what the league was like 30 years ago know what that means.
Roy played 20 seasons in the NHL, splitting his career between the Canadiens and Avalanche.
During that time, Roy has built an unparalleled resume.
Some of his more notable achievements include:
- Won the Stanley Cup four times
- 3 Conn Smythe Trophies (Postseason MVP)
- 3-time Vezina Award Winner (Best Goaltender)
- 5 Jennings Trophy (Less points conceded in regular season)
- All-Star selection 11 times
- First goalkeeper to win 500 games
- First goalkeeper to play in 1,000 games
Roy won his first championship with the Canadiens in 1986 as a 20-year-old rookie.
He won his last title with the Avalanche in 2002 at age 36.
His 551 wins rank third all-time behind Devils legend Martin Brodeur (691) and current Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who passed Roy on Monday with his 552nd win.
After his playing career, Roy moved into the front office. Quebec Ramparts of QMJHL.
He then became the head coach of Remparts in 2005.
There, Roy had two off-ice issues, including a 2007 incident in which he allegedly got into a fight with another team's owner, but the charges were later dropped.
The Avalanche first approached Roy about coaching Colorado in 2009.
He declined at the time, but changed his mind four years later.
Roy led the Avs to a franchise-tying 52 regular season wins in his first year (2013-14) and won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top head coach.
However, Colorado suffered a crushing loss to Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs.
The Avalanche regressed over the next two seasons, and Roy resigned as coach in 2016.
He returned to Lempart in 2018 and coached them for five more seasonsled Quebec to the championship Concluding the 2022-23 season.
Which brings us to the present, with Lamoriello handing over the Islanders to a man who had never won a playoff series in three seasons as an NHL head coach.
Roy takes over a club that sits sixth in the Metropolitan Division thanks to a four-game losing streak that ultimately cost Lambert his job.
