Patrick Roy Shares Every-Day Mindset Since Joining Islanders, Something To Appreciate

New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy wakes up every morning with the mindset to do everything he can to help his team win, and it's something to appreciate, given the craziness of the season.

SUNRISE, FL -- New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy is no stranger to the NHL game. 

He played over 1,000 games in a career that ended with him being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. 

But on Jan. 20, when he walked through the doors at the Islanders' practice facility, he was a stranger to a team that needed a new voice, a new leader, and ultimately wins. 

The mindset from Roy upon arriving was no different than any new coach. 

It was to learn the players, learn the mindset, and ultimately find a way to get the group playing a winning brand of hockey.

Flash forward 26 games, and Roy's Islanders have struggled to find that consistency, going 11-11-4 and have their backs against the wall with 11 games to go, six points back of a wild-card spot. 

It's not Roy's new system that's keeping the group from playing to its potential but the basics, which were not paid attention to for too long this season. 

Ahead of the Islanders' monumental meeting with the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, Roy spoke on his job right now. Every game is a "must-win" to keep their playoff hopes alive, at least mathematically. 

"The first thing I do is look at myself in the mirror and see what I can do to help these guys. They're not alone," Roy said. "This is a partnership. I said it from this the first day, so I'm not gonna change my view because of where we are in the standing. I'm there to help them. I'm there to support them, for the good and for the bad. At times, you need to go back to basic sand and then just say, 'Okay, we slipped there. Let's go back to that,' and I did this my whole career when I had a good game or a bad game,.

"If had a bad playoff game -- I didn't play well in Game Five against Jersey in the Stanley Cup in 2001 and let in a softy -- I have to go back to basics. So that's just the normal thing in the journey of hockey players and as a team as well. We want to make sure that, 'Okay, that's what was working. What we need to understand is how we win games and what makes us win hockey games. And I do believe that what we practice this week will help us to win hockey games."

A team that had the potential to have a strong season lost that potential because of a lack of attention to detail. Cal Clutterbuck said it best when The Hockey News asked about the importance of details, especially in Roy's system.

"We know what we're supposed to do. And the system is the system, and then the fundamentals are the rest of the game," Clutterbuck said. "It's what allows the system to be successful. And I think that's just the bottom line."

Words are falling on deaf ears within the Islanders fan base. They're tired of hearing words and want to see results, as do the players.

The players want to win games. They don't want to be in the position they are currently in. 

For Roy, he's doing everything he can to get their mind right for these big games, and it's invaluable to have a coach who is doing every little thing he can to win.

It may sound like the exact job a coach has at the NHL level, but it does seem that Roy is going above and beyond for this group and just isn't getting the results. 

Whether the Islanders go on a magical run here over these last 11 games to make the playoffs or their offseason begins on Apr. 18, the players that will be back next year under Roy will no doubt appreciate the effort he's put in since arriving. 

The coach doesn't play the game, and he doesn't allow goals or miss open nets. But at the end of the day, the coach usually gets the short end of the stick, and everyone should appreciate how vocal and transparent Roy has been through the roller coasters of the Islanders season as it sets a tone and a mindset for the future of the organization, which Roy is expected to be a part of.