Islanders fire Lane Lambert, hire Patrick Roy as head coach

Field Level Media|published: Sat 20th January, 18:49 2024

Dec 27, 2023; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert reacts as he coaches against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at UBS Arena. credits: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Islanders fired Lane Lambert in the middle of his second season as head coach on Saturday and hired Patrick Roy, a Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender and former NHL head coach.

The Islanders are 19-15-11 (49 points) this season, tied for fifth in the Metropolitan Division and two points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.

New York has lost four straight, including 4-3 in overtime at Chicago on Friday, and is 2-6-2 in its last 10 games.

Lambert, 59, was an Islanders associate coach for four seasons before his promotion for the 2022-23 season, when the team went 42-31-9 (93 points) and lost in six games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs.

Roy, 58, is best known as one of the NHL's greatest goalies, but he has had a second career in coaching. He was at the helm of the Colorado Avalanche from 2013-16, going 130-92-24 in the regular season and 3-4 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2013-14. He resigned in August 2016.

He won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL coach of the year in his first season, when the Avalanche won the Central Division with 112 points before falling to the Minnesota Wild in seven games in the opening round of the 2014 Western Conference playoffs.

Roy has had two coaching stints with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League, from 2005-13 and 2018-23, winning Memorial Cup championships in 2006 and 2023. His record in 13 seasons with Quebec is 524-255-66.

As a player, Roy has 551 wins in 19 seasons, third in NHL history behind Martin Brodeur (691) and active goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (552). Roy has the third-most games played (1,029); ranks first in playoff wins (151) and games (247); and second in playoff shutouts (23).

The 11-time All-Star and four-time Stanley Cup champion was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006, and his No. 33 has been retired by both the Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens.

There have been five head coaches fired this season: Lambert, D.J. Smith (Ottawa Senators), Jay Woodcroft (Edmonton Oilers), Dean Evason (Minneota) and Craig Berube (St. Louis Blues).

—Field Level Media

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