Mathew Barzal “would go through a wall” for Patrick Roy

Patrick Roy has been with the Islanders for two weeks now. And let’s just say that the first was more… chaotic.

In his first week, the coach was thrown into the fray with a big four-game week awaiting his club. And on top of that, there was a certain trip to Montreal that didn’t raise any eyebrows. You may not have heard about it…

Add to that the story of the hiring of Benoît Desrosiers, his assistant at the Remparts, which caused quite a stir. All this has only just been settled.

In a nutshell. All this to say that his return to the NHL caused quite a stir. After more than seven years in exile, the Roy is back in the best league in the world with the challenge of taking the Islanders to the playoffs.

Will it be easy? No.

But at least the upside is that Roy undoubtedly had the chance to settle in properly in New York during his team’s bye week. He had a little time to settle in New York, both as a human who has to live somewhere and as a professional with a job to prepare.

So it’s safe to assume that he’s done what he had to do during his week, and is now ready to go on the attack.

Even before the break, it was clear that the Islanders were getting better. The club only had three points out of eight, admittedly, but the club was progressing and the players were getting comfortable under their new driver.

And on that subject, John Flanigan (SNY) reported that Mathew Barzal likes playing for Patrick Roy. How much? To the point where Barzal would “go through a wall” for Patrick Roy.

Barzal understands the importance of playing for Roy, a Hall of Fame guy. He says the coach has motivated his troops and the group has been playing better in recent games.

He even feels that last week he played the best hockey of his career under Roy. Clearly, going from less than 20 minutes of average playing time this year to more than 23 under Roy must help.

Barzal feels that the group has progressed since the coaching change and it’s all the better if he feels that. After all, he, Bo Horvat and Noah Dobson, to name just three guys, will need to buy into the Quebecer’s plan to be successful.

The whole team will have to buy his plan, but you know what I mean.

In Brief

– To watch today… if you’re interested.

– Owen Beck is 20 years old.

– Still.