Even Lou Lamoriello’s patience finally wore thin after the New York Islanders finished a depressing and uninspired 0-3-1 road trip with an overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Friday night. The next day brought news of the firing of Lane Lambert as head coach, with former Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy named as his replacement.
Roy is a curious choice. He won the Jack Adams trophy as coach of the year with the Avalanche back in 2013-14, during a season where underlying numbers would suggest they were riding several hot streaks. Then he bailed on the team on the eve of the 2016-17 season, reportedly in a beef over input on player personnel.
That kind of power struggle is not the attribute you’d expect in a Lamoriello hire, but it was years ago, maybe the story is more nuanced, and maybe the volatile Roy has calmed down a bit in the meantime. He’s been looking to get back into the NHL while again coaching the Quebec Ramparts of the QMJHL — to a Memorial Cup championship last season.
He is certain to bring more fire than Lambert or even Barry Trotz (or many other coaches). So he’ll likely excite the fanbase at least a little while, and we’ll get another perspective to see how much of this team’s issues is the roster and how much is how it was coached.
On the latter point, the concerns were many: Under Lambert this season the Islanders were bleeding chances, blowing leads, and going through stretches of shocking disarray. The current losing streak was at least the second stretch where fan frustration with the team under Lambert rose to loud #firelambert movements. It’s likely those would’ve been vocal had Lambert remained behind the bench for a loss as the Isles returned home.
His final remarks to media as coach, after Friday’s overtime loss in Chicago, reflected how things felt for much of the season:
Lambert’s tenure began as a surprise — Lamoriello fired Barry Trotz after one, pandemic-hindered playoff miss that followed two conference final appearances. He named Lambert, Trotz’s longtime assistant, as replacement while citing Lambert’s performance and thoughts during a very brief fill-in week when Trotz was attending to family matters after the death of his mother.
As a hire, and as a series of decisions, it’s not Lamoriello’s best look.
But he finally made the move, and despite his credentials and history, Roy is still a bit of an unknown quantity here. Perhaps he’ll be the perfect answer. Perhaps he’ll be just another shot in the dark as Lamoriello’s roster ages and he decides whether to send out yet another first-round pick at the trade deadline.