Islanders' players shoulder responsibility for Lane Lambert's firing
Head coach Lane Lambert of the Islanders looks on during the first period against the Edmonton Oilers at UBS Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Lane Lambert took the fall. But the Islanders’ players know they bear the responsibility for the change in coaches to Hall of Famer Patrick Roy, who made his debut on Sunday night against the Dallas Stars at UBS Arena.
“A lot of guys in this room have been around long enough,” Kyle Palmieri said. “It’s more of an indictment on us than it was on Lane. We know we’re better than how we’re playing and we’re capable of a lot more. We expect a lot out of ourselves and we have the confidence that we can be a team at the top of our division.”
The Islanders entered Sunday sixth in the Metropolitan Division and two points out of a wild-card spot after their 0-3-1 road trip concluded with a 4-3 overtime loss to Central Division-trailing Chicago on Friday night.
Islanders president/general manager Lou Lamoriello announced Lambert’s firing and Roy’s hiring on Saturday afternoon. Sunday was one of four games remaining before the team’s eight-day All-Star break.
The Islanders, who will play eight of their 13 games in January on the road, entered Sunday in a 2-6-2 skid since Dec. 31.
“The schedule has been brutal,” All-Star Mathew Barzal said. “We just hit that point in the season where things weren’t going well and it seems like we were treading water and we couldn’t really get back to a flow. Lou is an extremely timely man and, I would say, pretty well 100% of the time knows exactly what our group needs in that moment. And this is what he feels was best.
“Not that you ever want to see a coach get fired. A lot of the time, as a player that can impact the game, you feel like some of that falls on your shoulders.”
Captain Anders Lee agreed that was “absolutely” the case.
“We played a part in the reason why we’re here,” he said. “We haven’t played up to our standards. That’s on us as a group. With this, it absolutely is on us, and that’s a challenge and an opportunity guys in this room want to take on.”
“We’re the ones who have to go out there and get things done,” Cal Clutterbuck said. “Things had gotten to a point where Lou felt that things needed to change. We needed a different voice. That just re-emphasizes the fact that it is on us and that it’s ultimately our performance that leads to all of these decisions being made.”
Defenseman Noah Dobson echoed Clutterbuck.
“Most of the accountability comes on us,” he said. “We’re the ones out there that are playing. The standard and the level we’ve been playing at for the last however long is unacceptable. And it’s on the group. We know we have to be a lot better. It’s unfortunate Lane takes the fall for it.”
The new coach quickly grabbed the Islanders’ attention with a high-intensity morning skate on Sunday. Roy, who won two Stanley Cups as the Montreal Canadiens’ goalie and two more backstopping the Avalanche, frequently stopped drills to make corrections, emphasized the need for group togetherness and preached that the playoffs already have started for the Islanders.
“I think everyone’s looking up to him,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “He’s a winner. A competitor. You just look back when he won the Cups, all the achievements. What I saw while meeting him this morning was just how good of a team player he was back in the day. He really wants us to come together and be one.”
Roy, 58, went 130-92-24 as the Avalanche’s coach from 2013-16, winning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2014. He made the playoffs only once, in his first season, and the Avalanche were eliminated in the first round.
He also served two tenures as the general manager/coach of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, winning the Memorial Cup twice.
“I absolutely loved Patrick’s energy today,” Barzal said. “I think he’s going to be great. I don’t think you could have hired a better guy to come in here and revamp the group.”
Said Bo Horvat, “His energy and his passion for the game really stands out right away.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
