WESTBURY, NY -- On Monday morning, the New York Islanders took part in their annual charity golf tournament at Glenn Oakes.
We spoke with forward Anthony Duclair for the first time since Patrick Roy's post-game remarks about his performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Apr. 2 led to a leave of absence from the team with eight games to go.
"He was god-awful. He was god-awful. He had a bad game. That's why I didn't play him a lot," Roy said. "And he's lucky to be in the lineup Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images. Sorry if I lose it on him right now, but that's how I feel."
Duclair had been struggling to play to the level he and the organization expected after he signed a four-year deal last summer worth $3.5 million annually. His groin tear in game five of the regular season played a vital role in his subpar start on Long Island, recording 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in 44 games, with just eight points (five goals, three assists) in the 39 games post the injury.
“Obviously, we know the injury. I tore my groin right off the bone, fifth game of the year," Duclari said. "Injuries happen. They’re out of my control. The timeline given to me was 4-6 weeks. It was a little tough, 3 ½ weeks, I didn’t have a groin. It was still not connected back to the bone. So I just feel like I came back too early. Got back skating too early, skated with the team too early, ended up playing too early.
"It hindered me the rest of the season, and I basically played on one leg. As a player, you don’t want to be on the sidelines; you want to be playing out there, battling with the boys. That’s what I try to do. Obviously, it wasn’t good for anyone for me to be out there."
Islanders Anthony Duclair Gives First Public Comments Since Taking Leave Of Absence
With eight games to go in the regular season, <a href="http://thn.com/isles">New York Islanders</a> forward <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/islanders-anthony-duclair-deserving-of-fresh-slate">Anthony Duclair</a> requested and was granted a leave of absence.
Roy said at the end of development camp that he wanted to apologize to Duclair, but not over the phone, as they'd figure out a time to meet either in Montreal or elsewhere to talk things over ahead of the 2025-26 season.
"I talked to Patty. Patty reached out over the summer. He drove down to Montreal, which I really appreciated," Duclair said. "He apologized for his comments. I told him I didn’t need an apology. I just needed him to know I was playing hurt, and he told me he didn’t really know the extent of the injury. I think it was just a miscommunication by everybody. Myself included. He just obviously thought I was playing 100 percent, which I wasn’t. Coming back too early kind of hindered me during the offseason as well. Didn’t have the training that I wanted. I’m feeling much better. I’m feeling better out there. Should be ready to go.”
Duclair said that he didn't need surgery and came back to Long Island this summer to get more looks because his groin was still hurting. Training camp will be a big test to see where he's at.
"I just being the best that I can be. I know what type of player I am," Duclair said. "I’ve kinda shown it right before I got hurt there, those first five games (two goals, one assist). That’s the player that I am. Obviously my speed and my skating is my No. 1 asset. Once I came back you saw me probably struggling with that aspect. Something was going on. For me I’m just looking forward to getting back to the way I was. I want to be back to 100 percent for sure, use my speed and my skill.
“Yeah I’m in a good place. My focus is Game 1 of the regular season and being ready for that. Gonna take all the time that’s needed during training camp, preseason, whatever it is. I’m in contact with Darchy and Pat. We had some good conversations over the summer, had some good conversations over the past week. So we’re just gonna be continuing to communicate, see how I’m feeling. I’m gonna be ready for Game 1 for sure."
Duclair will open camp alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Simon Holmstrom.
Here's what Roy had to say about their chat:
"It went really well. It went really, really well. Obviously, I expressed to him my regrets about what I said after the game. But it's an emotional game, and sometimes you're saying things, but the outcome didn't do anything good for us. I feel like it was almost negative more than anything else, and I think Anthony had a lot of trust in me, and I felt like I let him down a little bit there. But we're in a performance sports, and we have expectations, and I'm sure Anthony has his, but it's behind me now, and I want to move forward to this year and really hope that Anthony will start like he did because he had a really good start. When he came back from his injury, it was a little tougher for him for some reason. But I want him to be who he was before he got hurt."
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