One of the NHL’s most famous and fiery figures is back in the league. That would be legendary goalie Patrick Roy, now set to take his second crack at coaching in the NHL. The New York Islanders announced Saturday that they’d fired head coach Lane Lambert and replaced him with Roy:
#Isles News: New York Islanders President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Lou Lamoriello announced today that Lane Lambert has been relieved of his coaching responsibilities. Patrick Roy has been named Head Coach of the New York Islanders.
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) January 20, 2024
Roy played in the NHL from 1984-2003 with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche, posting 551 regular-season wins and 151 playoff wins with .912 and .918 save percentages respectively. Since then, he’s had quite the coaching career. That includes a 2013-16 stint at the NHL level with the Avalanche where he went 130-92-24 in the regular season, but only made the playoffs once and lost in the first round. With Colorado, Roy had an unusual level of personnel control to start with, but eventually lost that control and cited that in his decision to resign in August 2016.
Roy has also spent significant time coaching in junior with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he’s also served as general manager and as owner (holding that latter role from 1997-2014). Roy coached the Remparts from 2005-2013 and 2018-2023, winning Memorial Cups (the cross-league major junior championship) in his first and last season. He announced before last season that that would mark his last year coaching the Remparts, leading many to think he might try to get back to the NHL level. And now he’s there again.
No discussion of Roy as player and coach would be complete without talking about his fiery temper and some of his on- and off-ice incidents. From forcing a trade out of Montreal after he was left in for nine goals to being arrested on domestic violence charges in 2000 (those charges were eventually dropped) to facing an assault complaint from a rival QMJHL owner in 2007 (eventually withdrawn) to a five-game suspension from the league over his supposed encouragement of his Jonathan’s attack on a rival goalie in 2008 (Jonathan was eventually charged with assault and struck a plea deal for an absolute discharge) to an intense confrontation with rival coach Bruce Boudreau in 2013, there’s been a lot to discuss there.
It’s certainly notable to see Roy back in the NHL, and to see him working with another famed figure in Lamoriello. And it will be interesting to watch how this coaching stint goes for him. The Islanders went 42-31-9 last season and lost in the first round of the playoffs. They’re 19-15-11 this year, but have lost their last four games. Roy’s first game in charge will be Sunday, when they host the Dallas Stars.
