Naturally, the barometer for head coach John Tonelli will always be Al Arbor.
But the original number 27 doesn’t think Patrick Roy is half bad.
“When you bring in a guy like Patrick, who you know, he’s a character that automatically comes into play, he’s passionate. There’s no question about it, he gets the players fired up and ready and ready.” We’re going to do that,” Tonelli said after the Islanders announced Tuesday a financial commitment to support adaptive hockey on Long Island as part of the Stadium Series Legacy Project. “I’m not going to lie, that’s the way I play. Ready to go, lots of energy. If I didn’t play with that energy, I wouldn’t have been able to perform.”
Tuesday’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Kraken was Roy’s eighth game and the Islanders dropped to 3-3-2 under his guidance. New Jersey is in control, seven points behind the Flyers in third place in the Metropolitan Division and one point behind the Devils.
But the difference between Roy’s Islanders and Lane Lambert’s Islanders is already obvious to anyone watching, with the Islanders playing a more possession-oriented, offensive game.
But when it comes to wins and losses, the Islanders still seem to be finding their footing.
“He had a chance to see the little things that were missing,” Tonelli said of Roy. “It’s not big, it’s small. And when you focus on those little things and put them all together, it becomes something big. He did a great job of finding the little things that we’re not doing well. I think he did.
“In some cases, those spots are obvious, like allowing a goal on the power play. [penalty kill] It used to be pretty good. So those are things we have to work on. ”
The Islanders confirmed that European businessman Oliver Haarmann has invested in the team as a minority shareholder.
Sportico first reported that Haarmann, who founded Searchlight Capital in London, entered into negotiations to acquire about 10% of the team in December.
Haarman is the second player to invest in the Islanders in recent months, along with John Collins.
Alexander Romanov, who missed Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury, is back in action, as is Sebastian Aho.
Hudson Fassing (lower body) has started skating on his own, Roy said Monday. Roy also confirmed that defenseman Robert Bortuzzo is recovering from a high ankle sprain suffered on January 2 at Colorado State.
