Roy Stops Practice, Rips Islanders Effort During Practice

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — The New York Islanders, fresh off a humiliating defeat against the New York Rangers, practiced Wednesday afternoon at Northwell Health Ice Center. After a lazy defensive effort, the team came out slow and unenthused about practice.

After just one drill, Head Coach Patrick Roy grabbed his whistle and brought everyone into a circle. Once there, Roy unloaded on his team. He audibly scolded their effort this morning and last night. He lambasted the notion that the team played well last night. Audibly, he said loudly and sternly, it doesn’t matter if the team played well, they lost.

Then, he hammered into his players. Pointed to the stands and asked if the players wanted to sit and not play. He chided them, asking if they were quitting. All this after he spent the entire first 10 minutes of practice in the crease with Ilya Sorokin.

Roy hasn’t gone hands-on with a goalie like that very often. Especially not with Sorokin. Not today. Roy came with all the energy and fire one expected from him in his playing days. Finally, it came out after the team around him wilted in the previous 24 hours.

After his speech, practice notably gained extra steps. The team went hard, battling along the wall. Ryan Pulock and Maxim Tsyplakov locked horns for hard battles along the wall and in front of the net. That set the tone.

Players React:

After practice, the players confirmed the talking to and reacted to it.

Said Kyle Palmieri, “It doesn’t matter how we feel we played. We lost—time to flush it and prepare ourselves for tomorrow. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We need to win hockey games and chase down some teams.”

Hudson Fasching added to the sentiment: “We didn’t get the result. It comes down to wins and utilizing every moment we have to get better and continue to develop good habits. We don’t want to come here and go through the motions of practice today. We’ve got to be dialed in on our details.”

Those dirty details. Like turnovers in breakouts or not clearing out the front of the net, something that absolutely destroyed them last night.

Bo Horvat spoke about it and said, “When Patrick talks, you listen. Little bit of a sloppy practice at the beginning… If we want to come out of this, all the details matter. I don’t think we were detailed enough [last night]. He’s a positive guy, but he demands a lot from us, holding us to a higher standard. That starts by practicing the right way, doing the right things, and it translates into games.”

The sentiment from the room became clear. We may think we’ve played well, but not enough. The details cost us games, and that’s what’s left this team where it is.

Roy Speaks After Practice:

After practice, Roy also met the media. He talked about his message, wanting the team to be focused. Roy instead seemed to question his team’s confidence and focus at practice:

“I understand when things are not necessarily going your way, you lose your confidence. I just want us to keep practicing the right way. When you’re losing games like we did the last four, you want to make sure that you keep working hard in the practice. And I always believe you play like you practice.”

Later, Roy said “You can’t feel sorry for yourself in this game anymore. You have to go out there and find a way to practice hard bring it to your game. We need to show some swagger. You don’t have to tell [the world] how you feel deep inside. I remember one year with Colorado, we went down 2-0 and had to go back to Detroit. My teammates hadn’t their head between their legs. I came out singing.

Inside, I was afraid. But, I felt I had to show some swagger. [You can’t let] the other team know I was afraid. That’s what I want from our group. That little bit of swagger.”

He’s right. If Roy feels the team came out defeated for practice today, which he appears to have, then that says it all. It’s why he stopped them and ripped into them the way he did. While I can say it may be time to wave the white flag, those players and that team can’t.

Swagger and Sorokin:

They have to keep pushing and fighting through. That’s what Roy identified as Sorokin’s biggest issue last night, as well.

“I just want Ilya to trust his instinct. It’s too easy when things are not going the way you want, you let that affect you. He should not let that affect himself. He should go out there and trust what he does. But, he knows he’s a good goalie. We all know he’s a good goalie. So, it’s just for him to trust what he does and play with that swagger, you know, like that presence in front of the net.”

Then, when asked if he felt early goals rattled his goalie, Roy deflected the answer and said the goals that scored would’ve been tough saves. But not saying “no,” said it all. The early goals got to Sorokin last night.