How Will the Islanders Change With Roy Replacing Lambert?
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - You know, the Islanders,
00:04 it was on the edge a few times for Lane Lambert
00:06 throughout this season.
00:08 There were some really bad losses
00:10 and then they'd kind of bounce back
00:11 and then have a really good couple weeks streak
00:13 and then there'd be a couple more bad losses.
00:16 And last week was kind of the tipping point.
00:18 They had an awful road trip culminated
00:19 with that miserable loss in Chicago
00:22 against the Blackhawks last Friday night.
00:24 I was not surprised that Lou fired Lane Lambert
00:28 because I think Lou knows that he's kind of
00:31 on the griddle a little bit here,
00:33 that he needs to get this team in the playoffs
00:35 and keep them good.
00:36 But Patrick Waugh, Denny, out of nowhere.
00:40 And there was no rumbling of this,
00:42 no sense of this coming,
00:44 that he was close to getting back into the NHL.
00:47 Patrick Waugh, the new Islander head coach,
00:49 and already you hear these guys,
00:50 and I know they're gonna talk up the new coach
00:52 in the building,
00:53 but Barzell's got a smile ear to ear,
00:55 but Horvath's got a smile ear to ear.
00:57 Different scene on the Island now.
00:59 - Well, the Islanders couldn't finish games.
01:01 You know that, Karv.
01:02 How many games did they blow through
01:04 period leads, losing overtime?
01:05 So that was the genesis of all this.
01:07 And then look, you get an entirely different,
01:09 and yes, is anybody surprised
01:10 at the lack of leaks from Lou Lamerle's organization
01:14 about Patrick Waugh?
01:15 Of course not.
01:15 Lou's the lock and key.
01:17 He's Fort Knox, right?
01:18 So that information was gonna get out.
01:20 It's an entirely different paradigm
01:22 with respect to who's coaching now.
01:23 Lane Lambert was as low key as there is.
01:27 Patrick Waugh's anything but low key.
01:29 So he's gonna bring a certain energy on the bench.
01:31 You can see behind the edge in the first game,
01:32 yelling at guys, pushing guys, let's go, let's go.
01:35 You saw today, and now they're doing huddles
01:37 of practice on the ice,
01:38 and everybody's putting their hand
01:39 in like a high school basketball team.
01:41 So I'm not sure that's gonna work,
01:43 but the team has to play better.
01:44 So I think they needed a change there.
01:46 They needed a new voice.
01:48 And I just think the style that Patrick Waugh brings,
01:50 the passion he has for the game can't hurt this team.
01:56 It can only help.
01:57 But again, you gotta score more.
01:59 The goalie's gotta be a little bit better as well,
02:01 but I'm not shocked they made the change.
02:03 To go to Patrick Waugh when you had Craig Barube
02:06 or a Jay Woodcroft out there available,
02:08 who's been coaching in the league,
02:09 certainly surprising to me.
02:11 - Yeah, and I think me and Scotty were talking about this.
02:15 He obviously wasn't very liked
02:17 with some of the stuff in Colorado.
02:20 Maybe a little too boisterous for people.
02:22 His tenure at the Avalanche,
02:24 it ended very poorly in Colorado.
02:27 Now he's been coaching juniors and even owned the team.
02:30 Right, Danny?
02:31 He owned the team, ran the team,
02:32 whatever the deal was in junior hockey.
02:33 It seems like though he's the type of guy
02:37 that wants to win so badly and is gonna learn
02:42 from those mistakes that he made,
02:44 the first crack that he had in Colorado.
02:46 And it's been so long.
02:48 I'm interested to see how he's changed
02:51 and what philosophies he's put in
02:52 and how different he is with the media, et cetera.
02:55 'Cause I think he really wants to,
02:56 obviously now he's back, he wants to stay there
02:58 and not get thrown out again.
03:00 - Yeah, yeah, and you're right.
03:01 There had to be some distance
03:03 between the time he walked away from Colorado
03:05 and coming back into the league.
03:06 Now, is it longer than he wanted?
03:07 I'm sure it was.
03:08 I'm sure he wanted to be back sooner.
03:10 But again, when you put a coach in,
03:12 it's a press official during the season.
03:15 My question is, if he wants to change the style of this team
03:18 or structure this team, how do you do it now?
03:20 How do you do it at game 42 with limited practice time,
03:23 with an all-star break coming up
03:24 when the guys are gonna leave?
03:25 The timing isn't beneficial for him.
03:28 I think it's more about getting more energy in the room.
03:30 And you're right, a lot of it is the attitude of players
03:33 and they seem to like this coach.
03:34 So that seemed to work.
03:37 But now how's it work on the ice, right?
03:39 The game last night against Vegas,
03:41 all right, that was a close game, right?
03:42 Vegas had nine guys out.
03:44 So my question is, how much of an effect can he change
03:47 on the ice with systems and structures
03:49 this far into the season?
03:51 I'm not sure he can do it.
03:52 So it's more about his passion for the game
03:54 and his willingness to really bond with the players.
03:57 (upbeat music)
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