Lou Lamoriello Always Goes Back To What He Knows

It has been a weird season for the New York Islanders. First, it appeared the Islanders were out of the playoffs. Then they were in the playoffs, back out, and now it seems the Islanders are returning to the playoffs again. President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello stated he also believed in his group and is being rewarded.

Now, getting there was not easy. Lamoriello had to dip into his bag of old tricks to turn the season around, and even that trick took some time. For those who don’t know, Lou Lamoriello has a habit of firing coaches from the middle to the end of the season. When he was in New Jersey, Lamoriello fired numerous coaches with only games left in the regular season.

This season, it did not take long—well, longer than some expected or wanted. Former head coach Lane Lambert was given a long leash this season. The coaching change could have occurred earlier in the season if the Islanders had not turned things around. New York ultimately did, getting into a playoff position and saving Lambert’s for now.

However, Lamoriello pulled the trigger on Lambert once the Islanders entered another tailspin. Enter Patrick Roy on January 20th, 2024. Lamoriello went back to his Montreal Canadiens roots once again. Returning to his time in New Jersey as the President and General Manager, he hired Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson, and Pat Burns.

Robinson and Lemaire were crucial to the Canadiens dynasties, which won multiple Stanley Cups. They guided the Devils to the Stanley Cup Championships in 1995 and 2000. Burns coached the Canadiens to the 1989 Stanley Cup Final and won the Stanley Cup in 2003 with the Devils. Those coaches were perfect for the players the Devils had at the time.

Lamoriello is still stuck in his defensive-minded ways. Patrick Roy knows how to have a good defense in front of him. Not to mention what he did in Junior Hockey with Quebec; however, the hiring of Patrick Roy was still a shocker on the Island. But again, considering Lamoriello’s ties to Montreal in the past, maybe it was not that shocking after all.

“All he does is go back to the Montreal Canadiens winning history with Patrick Roy,” TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button said on SportsCenter with Jay Onrait back when Roy was hired. “I’m not going to declare them Stanley Cup favourites, but Patrick Roy is a top-notch coach, and Lou Lamoriello has jumped into the Montreal Canadiens, winning history time and time and time again. Nobody should be shocked. Nobody should be surprised. Lou got a big prize here.”

Lamoriello has always had a fascination with the Canadiens, even before Patrick Roy got to Montreal. It is similar to his fascination with the New York Yankees. Two iconic franchises in their respective sports. That is where some of the Lou Rules come from: the Yankees. But as far as the Canadiens go, Lamoriello needed someone to come in a light a fire in his players. Roy was that guy.

“One of the things that people talk about is some coaches they’re great motivators; some coaches know the little small things to improve people’s games. He knows both,” Elliotte Friedman said on NHL Network when Roy was hired. “And sometimes our best characteristic is our worst characteristic. And his fired his temper probably does both things. But clearly, Lou Lamoriello clearly thinks a fire needs to be lit under the legs and feet of the New York Islanders.”

It was not easy for the Islanders to get to this point, where they sit in third place in the Metro Division with 87 points and four games to play. Practices were hard. There was not a lot of time to practice, but Roy, even in the losses, saw little things his team was improving on.

Nobody thought the Islanders would be in this position a week or two ago. The Islanders won six games in a row to get back into the Wild Card Race. However, the team lost six in a row, picking up one point. They were still alive because the teams in front of them could not win or separate themselves.

During that losing streak, Kyle Palmieri was out of the lineup, so the Islanders relied on Bo Horvat, Brock Nelson, and Mathew Barzal. You could also see Ilya Sorokin finally hitting a wall. But there was a belief, and now the team has won five games in a row and is almost sure to make the playoffs.

Lou Lamoriello looks like a genius again, even though the Islanders did not upgrade at the trade deadline. Semyon Varlamov has steadied the ship in between the pipes. Again, Lamoriello believed in this group and is being rewarded for going back to what he knows: the Montreal Canadiens playbook.