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“Without Patrick Roy, the Islanders wouldn’t have made the playoffs” – Jacques Lemaire

As of last January, not many people believed the New York Islanders would make the playoffs.

The Long Island-based club boasted a 19-15-11 record, good for 11ᵉ place in the East, before Lou Lamoriello decided to get down to business.

Something had to give, and the Islanders GM, after firing head coach Lane Lambert, hired Patrick Roy to take over.

The Isles took a 180° turn and the playoffs became more and more of a possibility.

Under Roy, the club posted a record of 20 wins, 12 losses and five overtime defeats.

That put the club in the playoffs, even ahead of the Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division standings.

Roy’s authority is well known, as he is considered by many to be the best goaltender of all time.

When a certain Patrick Roy tells you to do something, let’s just say you listen very well.

Jacques Lemaire had some excellent words for Roy.

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“If Patrick hadn’t come with us, we wouldn’t have made the playoffs. That’s obvious. He’s a leader of men. He knows which buttons to push to get things done. He’s also someone the players follow when he speaks.” – Jacques Lemaire

On the one hand, this is indeed obvious, as the numbers speak for themselves and many believe in Roy as a head coach.

On the other hand, anything can happen, and turnarounds like this following a coaching change in the middle of the season don’t happen very often.

He did what he had to do to get the best out of his club.

This drive to win is nothing new for Roy.

As Bob Hartley mentions in the video below, Roy always wanted to win.

But winning wasn’t enough for Roy; he wanted to be the best, plain and simple.

And that’s why, according to Hartley, Roy is the best goalkeeper of all time.

All the success in a hockey player’s career doesn’t really translate to coaching.

Talk about Wayne Gretzky, who despite his 2857 in less than 1500 games, gave him a record of 143 wins to 161 losses.

But Roy has proved throughout his career as a head coach that he is just that.

After all, in 13 years at the helm of the Québec Remparts, he has made the playoffs in all but one year (2019-20).

After finally winning behind the Remparts bench in 2022-23, he’s earned a return to the NHL and shown he knows what he’s doing.

Let’s just say the Islanders can count on an experienced coach.

Overtime

– Speaking of Jacques Lemaire, he too believes the Habs will make the playoffs this season.

– For those who missed this week’s episode:

– Nice words for the Habs hopeful.

– Indeed.