Islanders head coach Patrick Roy spoke to disappointed fans at his team's practice directly from the ice
Not many Islanders fans have been happy these days, as the team has struggled this year, and Patrick Roy spoke to disappointed fans directly from the ice.
The Islanders' head coach Patrick Roy had spoken to the season-ticket holders after practices before, but Friday morning's session came under far different circumstances than it did during training camp.
Patrick Roy once took the microphone from an open practice on Oct. 6 when hope and optimism were rife among the Islanders season-ticket holders.
«Thank you for everyone for being here today,» Roy said. «It's very special for us to practice in front of you. We appreciate that you took the time to come and see us today, and you are very important to us. We want to make you proud of us, but you're important to us, so the connection is important.»
They had added Anthony Duclair and Maxim Tsyplakov in the off-season, and now Roy had a full off-season to get his system in place.
The stated goal was equally clear: avoid the slow starts of the past few seasons, as strong finishes had gotten the team into the playoffs more than once, but this time they were intent on not relying on these late-season surges to make it.
It hasn't exactly been a fantastic season for them, though. Coming in 13-15-7, dead last in the Metropolitan Division as of this morning after 35 games played. Roy once again addressed the media today, under far worse circumstances.
"I want to say thank you for your support," said Roy after Friday's practice. "We're not happy with the way we are playing in front of you guys. But I'll say this to you. We are going to keep working extremely hard to make everyone proud."
Injuries to key guys such as Anthony Duclair, Mathew Barzal, Mike Reilly and Adam Pelech have kept this team barely at a .500 record to keep them within the wild card conversation.
But even with them becoming healthier, their results seem to be actually worsening themselves. Recent performances have shown the struggles of the team.
The losses to the lowly Blackhawks and the shutout by the Hurricanes were followed by an encouraging win in Toronto, only to be undone by a humiliating 7-1 home loss to the Sabres, a team that had gone winless in 13 games.
With 47 games left, there's still plenty of time for Roy and the Islanders to right the season.
But with recurring problems, particularly on special teams, and growing doubts about Roy's leadership, that fan patience is starting to wear thin. If it doesn't get better, Roy's next opportunity to address the fanbase may not come.
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