New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy watches from the bench during the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello admitted that he put Patrick Roy in “a very difficult situation.”
“I’m proud of taking the time to go back to juniors, working with those guys, resource myself in the game, and make sure I stay on top of that different culture,” Roy said during his. “The player today is different than what it was in my time. It changes and you have to adjust to the younger guys. I’m very happy that I did this and I’m very happy that I received this call.”
No longer was New York going to be a defensive-first team that sat back, absorbed pressure, and tried to hit teams on the counter. Instead, defensemen were given the green light to leave their net-front and chip in on the offensive attack while forwards were given the liberty to express themselves in the attacking zone.
“The changes that are necessary to do things the right way, you don’t have a lot of time to do it and the only way to deal with it is to go right at it,” Lamoriello said of the move to bring in Roy. “As a result of that, sometimes some inconsistency comes in because you get players trying to learn right away and yet, there’s no other way of getting it done.