When the NY Islanders’ ownership decided to shake up the front office this summer, replacing Lou Lamoriello with Mathieu Darche, questions arose as to whether Patrick Roy would remain the head coach. 

When new General Managers take over a franchise, they typically prefer a fresh start, bringing in one of their own behind the bench. But Darche decided to stick with Roy.

Roy belongs in the Jack Adams conversation

After a 0-3 start to the season, there was a belief that Roy may not make it through the year, as the Islanders looked as if they were in for another long season.

But just past the quarter-mark of the season, Roy and the Islanders have completely turned their season around, going 13-5-2 in their next 20, and currently have the NHL’s ninth-best points percentage.

Though there are still five months before the end of the regular season, Roy deserves to be in consideration for the Jack Adams Award, given to the coach adjudged to have contributed most to his team’s success. 

In 2014, Roy won the award with the Colorado Avalanche. If he were to win one with the Islanders, he’d become only the sixth head coach in league history to win the award with multiple franchises. 

While system and style of play are of course crucial to a team’s success, relationships with the players are just as, if not more important, to putting out a winning product.

While Roy has always spoken highly of his team, his actions last week following Mikko Rantanen’s hit on Alexander Romanov speak volumes as to how far he’s willing to go to defend his players.

While we haven’t seen much of the fiery Roy that was on full disabling Colorado, that impassioned player that he was while tending the twine in his playing days still burns inside him.

With 59 games remaining, the Islanders’ season could go south, and Darche could elect to move on from Roy. Or, they continue to trend in the right direction, and the Islanders have their head coach long into the future, with potentially another Jack Adams Award under his belt.