RALEIGH, N.C. — The Stanley Cup Playoffs elevated Patrick Roy to legendary status as a player.
Eighteen years ago, as a first-time postseason coach, he poured the gas here, ignited some games and won a trophy.
“I was like a little warrior, and so was he,” Eric Veilleux, who coached the Royce Quebec Remparts with Shawnigan Cataractes in the 2006 QMJHL playoffs, said in a February sit-down. I reflected on this at the meeting. “…We didn’t have a team that could match their ability. Back then, the way we kept ourselves in the game was physical. I probably wouldn’t say we were trying to intimidate them, but we There were times when that didn’t make him very happy.
“So we just gave it a try.”
Veil wasn’t the only coach to engage in a verbal sparring match with Roy that spring.
Ted Nolan — yes, the Ted Nolan who coached the Islanders a year later — got mad after Roy took a shot at the netminder during the Memorial Cup and said, Please be honest. But he has a tougher game ahead of him and yesterday it looked like he conceded two soft goals. Hopefully he repeats and we’ll take advantage of that. ”
And Vancouver Giants manager Don Hay said after the greatest goaltender of all time expressed his opinion during the round robin stage of the Memorial Cup, “Vancouver is going to go 2-0 with great goaltenders.” , Roy said he should be worried about his team. ”
Lloyd’s Remparts won the Memorial Cup after putting off a slew of frustrating opponents.
Since then, Roy’s approach has changed significantly. Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen was spared such heat when the Islanders head coach spoke on Friday.
But the all-out intensity that earned Roy four Stanley Cup rings and three Conn Smythe Trophies is the same trait that fueled the success that led the Islanders to the playoffs.
“You’ve got to go into the game with confidence and believing in what you’ve done,” Roy said before the Islanders flew to Carolina for Saturday’s first game against the Hurricanes. “Because you can’t change everything just because you’re in the playoffs. Just go with your emotions, there’s no English word for it, just go with your own impulses.”
This is the second NHL playoff series Roy has coached, with 10 years having passed since the Wild defeated the Avalanche in the first round in 2014.
But the Islanders’ midseason coaching change with Roy replacing Lane Lambert is the biggest reason they got this far in the first place.
Roy overhauled the team’s systems on both ends of the ice.
And, just as importantly, it brought a level of mindset and intensity that was previously missing.
“One of the first things he said when he got here was that we had a chance to make it to the rest of playoff hockey,” Kyle Palmieri told the Post. “I think it was an opportunity to take a deep breath and focus on what was in front of me.”
For the most part, the players in the Islanders’ locker room have been together for quite some time.
Roy brings more than just fresh eyes to the team needed to pull off a mid-season overhaul of how things are going for a team full of players with established ways of working. , eyes that commanded a kind of instant respect.
“I think more than anything, it takes courage to do that,” Hudson Fassing told the Post. “You should feel like, “I’m going to do it.” What happens is going to happen. Obviously, you can see that there are negative consequences to it. We’re going through a skid where we’re trying to figure it out. To do.
“We may have played well in the first few games with intensity and things like that, but it takes time to turn everything around.” [thing] — There will be good and bad sides. In the long run, you will see clear benefits. ”
After scoring a goal against the New York Rangers. Noah K. Murray – New York State Post
This season, more than any other, required the Islanders to compromise and adjust on the fly.
That meant couples stopped and started under Roy while everyone tried to figure out where and how this marriage fit together.
The final three weeks of the season, as the Islanders stormed into the postseason out of nowhere, represented how everything finally worked out, without any setbacks like last time.
“The big change, in my opinion, is the way we think,” Roy said. “How you deal with conceded goals and missed shifts. … They seem to handle those situations very well. I think that explains a lot of our success after that.”
Now, all that remains is for the islanders to take over their actions.
