The New York Islanders underwent some pretty big organizational changes, and Patrick Roy took over as head coach of the club just a few days ago. His changes, though, are already being felt by the team and its fans.
One of the major changes to the game has been line management. Roy has taken a clear ability to match his offensive defensemen up with his top six forwards, something that wasn't happening previously. This has accentuated the Islanders' offensive defensemen. Roy also has cleaned up the Islanders' line changes after penalty-killing situations, allowing the team to easily flow into an opportunity after being down.
Other than the x's and o's that Roy brings to the team, he has also been an improvement for fans and the media. He has made the process of announcing lineups and player availability much more transparent than Lambert. Roy has made this information available to the media the day of the game with details on why decisions were made.
