The New York Islanders are moving on from Lane Lambert.
Lambert, an assistant coach on the Washington Capitals’ 2018 Stanley Cup champion team, was fired by general manager Lou Lamoriello on Saturday after posting a 61-46-20 record in parts of two seasons as Islanders head coach.
Losers of eight of their last 10, the Isles are 19-15-11 (49 points) through 45 games of the 2023-24 campaign, good for sixth in the Metropolitan Division and one point behind the Capitals.
Lambert is being replaced by Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy who will become the 19th head coach in Islanders’ history.
#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 has previous NHL head coaching experience. He was behind the bench of the Colorado Avalanche for three seasons from 2013 through 2016, posting a record of 130-92-24. He was the Jack Adams Award winner in 2014 as NHL head coach of the year.
Never forget when Patrick Roy got into it with Bruce Boudreau when Patty was head coach of the Avs 😳 pic.twitter.com/sofd7q6WMC
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 20, 2024
The fiery Roy has spent the majority of his coaching career as a bench boss in junior hockey, serving two different stints as head coach for the Quebec Remparts from 2005-06 through 2012-13 and 2018-19 through 2022-23. During the 2022-23 season, he won both the Memorial Cup Championship and the QMJHL Championship. He was also the general manager of the team throughout that time.
Roy accumulated a Head Coaching record of 524-255-66 through 13 seasons with the Remparts.
During his playing career, Roy lifted the Stanley Cup four times and was awarded the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP three different times. Roy won 551 games in his career — third most of all time — and 151 in the playoffs — most in NHL history. Roy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006. His jersey number of 33 is retired both in Montreal and Colorado.
Lambert, along with goaltending coach Mitch Korn, left for the New York Islanders shortly after the Capitals won their first championship in 2018, joining Barry Trotz’s staff as an associate coach. After two impressive playoff runs, Trotz was fired after the team struggled mightily in 2021-22 and missed the playoffs. Lamoriello promoted Lambert into the head coaching position over the offseason.
In Lambert’s first season, the Islanders posted a 42-31-9 record and got into the postseason in the Eastern Conference’s first wild card spot. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the New Jersey Devils in six games.
