Semyon Varlamov is the only player on the Islanders' roster to have played for Patrick Roy.
Suffice to say he is happy with the team's new head coach selection.
“I'm not going to lie, I got goosebumps,” Varlamov said Tuesday before the Isles lost 3-2 to the Golden Knights in Roy's second game off the bench. “I'm really glad he joined our team. He's a great leader. He'll bring a lot of emotion. And I think that's what we need right now. He can bring a lot of passion for hockey.”
Varlamov's best individual season came in his first year with Roy, as he finished second behind Tuukka Rask in the 2013-14 Vezina Trophy with a .927 save percentage.
After Varlamov returned from injured reserve on Monday, getting him back into the fold will be crucial for the Islanders, who have relied heavily on Ilya Sorokin over the last month.
Varlamov is scheduled to return to the net against the Canadians on Wednesday.
“He should have won Vezina that year, just for the record.'' [in 2014]” said Roy.
“I was very happy to win Coach of the Year, but I can honestly say that our goaltenders were the difference that made the difference that year in going from being second to last in the NHL to leading our division. We relied on him every night.”
Varlamov said it was too early to understand how Roy had changed since the two last worked together.
But the respect he has for the Hall of Fame netminder is nothing short of incredible.
“We all knew Patrick Roy from childhood in our hometown,” Varlamov said. “[The] The most popular teams were the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche. I remember a playoff game between Detroit and Colorado in the late '90s and early 2000s. Patrick played unbelievably at the time, winning two Cups with Colorado. So of course he was an idol for many young goalkeepers. ”
Mike Riley returned to the lineup on Tuesday, with Samuel Bolduc out.
Roy said Bolduc plans to return against Canada.
“We don't want Mike to sit too long,” Roy said. “[Bolduc] played a very good match [Sunday].Doug [Houda’s] I'm very happy with his development, he's still young. I’m going to rotate it at some point.”
Pierre Envall participated in Tuesday morning's skate with full contact and said Roy was on a daily call with an upper-body injury but is recovering well.
Brock Nelson's second-period goal was his 500th career point.
Roy didn't have an update after Bo Horvat put the puck in his mouth in the final seconds of the game.
