MONTREAL — Nobody instructed Patrick Roy what was coming throughout the nationwide anthem on Thursday.
So when the Canadiens interspersed a slideshow of images from Roy’s enjoying days with the pregame rendition of “O Canada,” Roy was as stunned as anybody.
After spending the buildup to his return to Montreal insisting on placing the concentrate on the Islanders, right here got here proof constructive that hope was in useless as cheers turned to rapture as soon as the scoreboard digital camera panned to Roy’s No. 33, then to the Islanders’ new head coach.
“I’d prefer to thank the Montreal Canadiens for that. It was very nice what they did,” Roy mentioned following the Isles’ 4-3 loss. “Followers have been simply, like standard, it is a good crowd. It’s like in New York. Good followers, they love their group, they wish to assist. I’m grateful.”
Nonetheless a lot Roy tried to downplay it, his first recreation teaching in Montreal since 2016 was a media circus as he acquired a hero’s welcome.
Plainly each determine on this metropolis has a narrative about Roy — watching him, assembly him, listening to their dad and mom discuss him.
That features Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, who reminisced Wednesday about scoring a purpose on Roy at age 12 throughout a PeeWee match.
“Yearly, I feel, that they had a Humpty Dumpty observe the place followers would come and watch the Canadiens observe. After which my group went on the ice and everyone took a breakaway, a shootout try in opposition to Patrick,” St. Louis instructed reporters. “Patrick poke-checked me, he made it simple on us, however I flipped it over him and I scored.”
St. Louis performed in opposition to Roy within the NHL, too, and now counts him as a training modern. However as soon as an idol, at all times an idol.
“The period of time I used to be Patrick Roy on the street enjoying goalie, all of us admired him and idolized him,” St. Louis mentioned. “And so he meant so much to me. The remainder of the youngsters rising up right here, he was sort of the spine of the French guys for a very long time.”
There was no replace on Adam Pelech’s situation after he left the sport within the third interval following an elbow to the pinnacle from Canadiens ahead Brendan Gallagher, incomes Gallagher a five-minute main and ejection.
Hudson Fasching additionally left the sport for good throughout the first interval after sliding into the top boards on a breakaway.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 22 of 26 pictures in his first recreation since Jan. 2.
Roy mentioned that Lou Lamoriello referred to as to inform him he can be employed final Friday, the identical day the Islanders confronted the Blackhawks in what turned out to be Lane Lambert’s last recreation as head coach.
