Patrick Roy reveals when he found out he was going to be Islanders' next head coach
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy looks on during practice at Northwell Health Ice Center on Tuesday in East Meadow. Credit: Howard Schnapp
MONTREAL — Turns out, a 4-3 overtime loss to Central Division bottom-feeder Chicago a week ago, which ended an 0-3-1 road trip, likely did not factor into Lane Lambert’s firing as Islanders coach.
President/general manager Lou Lamoriello already was deep into discussions with Patrick Roy about the job.
“Friday, I received a call from Lou that he was going to hire me,” Roy said before the Islanders lost, 4-3, to the Canadiens on Thursday night at Bell Centre. “So I had to leave Florida, flying to Montreal and then drive from Montreal to New York on Saturday and then meet with Lou on Saturday when I got to New York late in the afternoon. And then meet with the coaches.”
Lamoriello did not accompany the Islanders on that week-long trip.
Jacques Lemaire, Roy’s former coach with the Canadiens, is a special assignment coach for the Islanders.
“Lou and Jacques are very close people and I’m lucky to have mentors like them,” Roy said. “I think I’m going to grow as a coach. I think I’m going to grow as a hockey person.”
Roy’s message
Roy called his first timeout as Islanders coach after Sean Monahan’s power-play goal gave the Canadiens a 3-0 lead at 12:19 of the first period.
It ended a sequence in which Kyle Palmieri’s slashing penalty negated the Islanders’ first power play and Cole Caulfield scored at 11:36 with the teams skating four-on-four.
“We talked about the mindset for the last two days,” Roy said. “I thought we were tested there and I just wanted us to remain focused on what we have to do. Don’t go trying to do it on your own. Let’s do it as a group.”
Bolduc back home
Rookie defenseman Samuel Bolduc, who grew up in nearby Laval, Quebec, played his second NHL game at Bell Centre. He logged 13:27 with four hits in the Islanders’ 5-3 loss to the Canadiens on Dec. 16, the second night of a back-to-back set.
“The first game we arrived late there,” Bolduc said. “Now we got here earlier and took time to see family. I wouldn’t say it’s normal yet, but the more I play there, the more normal it will be.”
Isles files
LW Hudson Fasching exited at 6:41 of the second period after going hard into the end wall . . . LW Pierre Engvall logged 15:05 with two shots and two crucial turnovers after missing four games with an upper-body injury . . . RW Julien Gauthier logged only 7:59 and sat the final 14:42 of the game . . . Palmieri had a game-high 11 shots on goal of 16 shots attempted . . . LW Matt Martin (illness) is day-to-day . . . It was the 4,000th game in Islanders history.
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.
