Mathieu Darche off to a great start on first day as Islanders GM
It was May 29, and the Islanders did not have a hockey game to play in or prepare for, which was part of the reason Mathieu Darche found himself at UBS Arena in the first place.
But there Darche was, and as non-playoff moments in late May go, Thursday was as good as it gets for the Islanders.
Yes, their new general manager, executive vice president and head of hockey decisions eventually will be judged as all general managers are — by how much his teams win.
But so far, the guy is undefeated.
“Winning the press conference” has come to be a sarcastic term meant to indicate that such victories are far less important than performance, which they obviously are.
That does not mean, however, that first impressions are irrelevant.
That is particularly so for a franchise that missed the playoffs this season, that replaced an 82-year-old Hall of Famer in Lou Lamoriello with a 48-year-old first timer most fans had never heard of before this month, and that is determined to improve its marketing and community outreach.
And Marche aced all of it. When he got the job, it was evident that part of the plan was to market a fresh start. On Thursday, that vibe arrived in the flesh.
Darche quickly and decisively announced that he will stick with coach Patrick Roy, a fellow French-Canadian whom Darche had not met until last weekend.
“I'm extremely comfortable and excited to be working with him,” Darche said.
The new GM also struck just the right balance between acknowledging Islanders history distant and recent past, while noting the need to tell new stories.
He was born in 1976, too young to remember the Canadiens’ dynasty in his native Montreal but just the right age to recall the Islanders’ early 1980s run.
“My first memories of watching hockey is the Islanders winning every Stanley Cup, pretty much,” he said, adding that like most kids in Montreal, he particularly revered Mike Bossy.
He also gave a nod to more recent Islanders history by referencing the final game played at Nassau Coliseum in 2021 in the Eastern Conference Final against the Lightning, for whom Darche worked at the time.
“I still remember Game 6 at the Coliseum when Anthony Beauvillier scored in overtime, how loud that building was, never mind all the beers being thrown on the ice everywhere,” Darche said. “So it's an unbelievable fan base.”
He also promised to bring some of the principles he learned as a two-time Cup champion with Tampa Bay to the Islanders.
The Lightning eliminated the Islanders in back-to-back NHL semifinals in 2020 and ’21. Darche said he also gave a warning to his old boss in Tampa, Julien BriseBois, saying, “I told him, next time we play in a conference final, that's going to be the other way around.”
Let’s see what else happened on a happy morning at UBS Arena . . .
Darche got rid of Lamoriello’s old policy against facial hair for players (and team employees).
When operating partner John Collins referenced some hockey fans on Long Island rooting for the Rangers or Devils or Bruins, Darche heard fans in the audience at the news conference boo. He turned to Collins and playfully reproached him, saying, “Whoa, whoa!”
He promised a “fast-paced” system, but one that also will value defense.
He said he almost certainly will use the first overall pick in next month’s draft and not trade it.
Rather than be coy about the ankle injury that Bo Horvat suffered in the World Championships, he came right out and detailed the timeline for recovery.
He even made sure to say “on Long Island” rather than “in Long Island” after having been advised of proper procedures.
It was a small thing, but a sign of a guy who has the bigger picture in mind — and a guy who is coachable.
Collins, who led the search for a new GM, answered a question about what he saw in Darche by first saying simply, “I think you’re seeing a lot of it right here. I think it’s the total package.”
Everyone did, from journalists to fans to current captain Anders Lee to four-time Cup winner Butch Goring, whom Darche said he had not met before Thursday. He clearly appreciated that opportunity.
So did Goring. “To me,” he told Newsday, “he’s the perfect guy.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
