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Islanders: having Patrick Roy at the start of the year will help the club, believes captain

 Emma Wilson
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Islanders: having Patrick Roy at the start of the year will help the club, believes captain
Credit: Getty Images
Last year, the Islanders surprised just about everyone by announcing the arrival of Patrick Roy as head coach. The announcement, which came in the middle of the season, was intended as an electroshock to a team that was underperforming.

In the end, Roy helped his club compete right to the end… and reach the playoffs. Despite the club’s first-round elimination at the hands of the Hurricanes, it was still a success under the circumstances.

For a club that was out of the playoff picture at the time he was hired, it was quite a turnaround.

The question now is whether this effect will carry over into the coming season. After all, there is often a short-term effect, but it has to be sustained over the long term.

But that doesn’t worry club captain Anders Lee too much. The forward believes that having Roy from the start of the season will help the Islanders in 2024-25, as he reported to Jessi Pierce for the NHL’s official website.

Lee insists that Roy brought intensity and energy following his arrival, and he’s confident he’ll see all that have an effect again this season. The guys now know what to expect, and Roy will have more time to prepare his group.

We feel that Lane Lambert, who was Roy’s predecessor, perhaps didn’t have the same enthusiasm. That’s not to say he was a bad coach, but it does make for a different reality for the players on Long Island.

Let’s not forget that the Islanders will have a core of players more or less identical to last year’s (unless Lou Lamoriello is hiding signings as in the past), but that they have added Anthony Duclair, who played under Roy in the QMJHL, to their group. He’s a nice support piece behind the likes of Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat up front.

But of course, the Long Islanders are banking heavily on Patrick Roy’s impact behind the bench.

And when the club captain talks about it, you can tell the coach has the respect of his dressing room. It’s a promising sign.


Overtime

– Speaking of the Islanders.

– Jason Maas knows how to motivate a locker room.

– Big signing in the NFL.

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