Patrick Roy has been with the Islanders for two weeks now. And let’s just say that the first was more… chaotic.
In his first week, the coach was thrown into the fray with a big four-game week awaiting his club. And on top of that, there was a certain trip to Montreal that didn’t raise any eyebrows. You may not have heard about it…
Add to that the story of the hiring of Benoît Desrosiers, his assistant at the Remparts, which caused quite a stir. All this has only just been settled.
#Isles News: Islanders President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Lou Lamoriello announced today that Benoit Desrosiers has been hired as an Assistant Coach. He will join Head Coach Patrick Roy’s staff, along with current Assistant Coaches Doug Houda & John MacLean.
– New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) February 2, 2024
In a nutshell. All this to say that his return to the NHL caused quite a stir. After more than seven years in exile, the Roy is back in the best league in the world with the challenge of taking the Islanders to the playoffs.
Will it be easy? No.
But at least the upside is that Roy undoubtedly had the chance to settle in properly in New York during his team’s bye week. He had a little time to settle in New York, both as a human who has to live somewhere and as a professional with a job to prepare.
So it’s safe to assume that he’s done what he had to do during his week, and is now ready to go on the attack.
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Even before the break, it was clear that the Islanders were getting better. The club only had three points out of eight, admittedly, but the club was progressing and the players were getting comfortable under their new driver.
And on that subject, John Flanigan (SNY) reported that Mathew Barzal likes playing for Patrick Roy. How much? To the point where Barzal would “go through a wall” for Patrick Roy.
“He’s a guy you want to run through a wall for, so I feel like for me and a lot of our guys, our games have really elevated over the past four games.”
Islanders’ Mathew Barzal feels he’s playing some of the best hockey of his career under Patrick Roy https://t.co/iDokZ1o1UT pic.twitter.com/Fyfor7qBRo
– SNY (@SNYtv) February 3, 2024
Barzal understands the importance of playing for Roy, a Hall of Fame guy. He says the coach has motivated his troops and the group has been playing better in recent games.
He even feels that last week he played the best hockey of his career under Roy. Clearly, going from less than 20 minutes of average playing time this year to more than 23 under Roy must help.
Barzal feels that the group has progressed since the coaching change and it’s all the better if he feels that. After all, he, Bo Horvat and Noah Dobson, to name just three guys, will need to buy into the Quebecer’s plan to be successful.
The whole team will have to buy his plan, but you know what I mean.
In Brief
– To watch today… if you’re interested.
Nick Suzuki and Team McDavid will be in action starting at 3pm ET at #MatchOfTheStars!
Details ↓ #GoHabsGohttps://t.co/GQsNg5J1nN
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) February 3, 2024
On a scale of Kucherov to 10, how cr*ssed are you about today’s All-Star Game?
– Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) February 3, 2024
– Owen Beck is 20 years old.
Happy birthday to Canadiens prospect Owen Beck, who turns 20 today. He has 21-25-46 totals in 35 OHL games this season split between Peterborough and Saginaw. #Habs selected him in second round (33rd overall) of 2022 NHL Draft. #HabsIO @mtlgazette photo by Dave Sidaway @dsidaway pic.twitter.com/Qm1Gb6Zht5
– Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) February 3, 2024
– Still.
This will be a third stint with the Yankees network for the former manager. https://t.co/HAUG0ZKasS
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) February 3, 2024