Patrick Roy keeping himself and Islanders away from massive Montreal media
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy looks on against the Golden Knights at UBS Arena on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
MONTREAL — The last thing the Islanders need in their desperate push to make the playoffs was a distraction, media-based or otherwise. Patrick Roy knows that, especially when he’s potentially about to be the distraction.
His third game behind the team’s bench on Thursday night will be back where he started his Hall of Fame career as the Canadiens goalie, winning that storied franchise’s most recent two Stanley Cups and where his No. 33 hangs from the rafters at Bell Centre.
So Roy got ahead of the curve. The Islanders will not have a morning skate and the voluminous Montreal media — akin to how the Yankees are covered both in New York and nationally but doubled with both French-Canadian and English-speaking outlets — will not have a chance to speak with the players prior to the match.
Just team meetings at the team hotel, in private.
“The reason why we went on the ice is mainly because we just don’t want to have distractions,” Roy said Wednesday after conducting his first full practice as Islanders coach at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. Prior to that, Roy’s only on-ice teaching sessions with his new players came during his two game-day morning skates.
“No morning skate in Montreal,” Roy said. “The guys are going to stay at the hotel and they’re going to be focused.
“I don’t want it to be about me. I want it to be about the Islanders. We’re going there to win a hockey game. We’re not going there to win for the coach. It’s for our team.”
The Islanders (20-16-11) split their first two games under Roy, who replaced the fired Lane Lambert on Saturday. They played well in a 3-2 loss to defending Stanley Cup-champion Vegas on Tuesday night at UBS Arena and did just enough to beat the visiting Stars 3-2 in overtime on Sunday.
The players know what they and Roy will be entering on Thursday.
“I think it’s actually exciting,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “For us players it’s not going to be a distraction. The attention is not on us, really.”
“I would imagine it’s going to be a lot of eyes in the building and probably bigger than anything I’ve ever been a part of, including Toronto,” said left wing Matt Martin, who played for the heavily-covered Maple Leafs from 2016-18.
“Patrick is a legend there. The day he was hired, this place, the media, what, tripled that first day? I can only imagine what it will be like. But, for us, as players, it doesn’t change a whole lot.”
But even eschewing a morning skate and keeping his players corralled at the team hotel may not keep the Islanders from all the distractions.
“I’m sure there’s going to be a posse probably waiting for him when we get to the hotel,” center said Bo Horvat, who spent his first eight-plus NHL seasons playing for Vancouver said. “I feel like playing in Canada, I’ve seen it all. For him to get back there, it’s not going to hinder us at all. If anything, it’ll get us going a little bit.”
Notes & quotes: Roy said he expects left wing Pierre Engvall to return to the lineup against the Canadiens after missing four games with an upper-body injury . . . Horvat was able to practice after taking a puck to the face in the final minute against Vegas. Horvat’s right cheek and bottom lip were swollen and he needed stitches inside his mouth. “The letters on the puck on the side of my face,” Horvat said of the final damage. “You can literally see the letters.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
