Patrick Roy becomes Islanders head coach

Wow.

The Islanders have just announced news that hardly anyone expected on this Saturday afternoon: the club has fired its head coach, Lane Lambert.

And to replace him, it’s been announced that none other than… Patrick Roy will take his place.

#Isles News: New York Islanders President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Lou Lamoriello announced today that Lane Lambert has been relieved of his coaching responsibilities. Patrick Roy has been named Head Coach of the New York Islanders.

– New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) January 20, 2024

I don’t know about you, but this is about the last thing I expected. We knew Roy was possibly looking for a new NHL job, but such a sudden announcement wasn’t necessarily in the cards.

It just goes to show once again that Lou Lamoriello is a master at hiding his game.

It also means that, contrary to what many suspected, it won’t be in Ottawa that Roy will get his new chance behind an NHL bench. It’s important to note that the Islanders’ official announcement makes no mention of an interim role, so he’s clearly not there on a temporary basis.

The fit is a little strange considering that Roy has developed a reputation as a good coach for young players. There are a few on Long Island (Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov, Oliver Wahlstrom, etc.), but overall, we’re talking about a much older core.

Mathew Barzal is relatively young at 26, but for the rest, we’re really talking about seasoned veterans.

More details to come…