Two key members of the New York Islanders appear to have patched things up.
The New York Islanders endured an April they’d rather forget—and not just because of their results on the ice.
A 3-4-2 finish to the season, crammed into its final two weeks, was disappointing enough. But the team also found itself dealing with off-ice drama that only added to the frustration.
After a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 1, head coach Patrick Roy unleashed some of the harshest public criticism of a player in recent memory, directing it at forward Anthony Duclair. Duclair, who finished the game with no points and a minus-1 rating, did not play again, instead stepping away for the remainder of the season.
“He was awful,” Roy said bluntly after the loss. “He had a bad game, that’s why I didn’t play him much. Honestly, he’s fortunate to even be in the lineup. I know I’m losing my cool here, but that’s how I feel. He wasn’t skating, he wasn’t competing, he wasn’t moving his feet—he just wasn’t meeting our expectations.”
The tirade was an ugly moment for a team already far out of the playoff race, but time seems to have smoothed things over. Speaking Monday at the Islanders’ charity golf tournament, Roy revealed that he had reached out to Duclair to apologize, and that the two have patched things up.
“It’s an emotional game, and sometimes you say things that don’t help anyone,” Roy said, via TSN. “Looking back, my comments did more harm than good. Anthony trusted me, and I feel like I let him down. This is a performance business—we all have expectations—but that’s in the past. I just want to move forward and see him get back to the form he showed early last season. After his injury, things were tougher for him, but I want him to be the player he was before getting hurt.”
Duclair, for his part, appreciated the gesture but also clarified his side of the story.
“I told him I didn’t need an apology—I just wanted him to understand I was playing through an injury,” Duclair explained. “He admitted he didn’t realize how much I was dealing with. Honestly, it was a miscommunication on everyone’s part, including mine. He thought I was fully healthy, which I wasn’t.”
The 30-year-old winger joined the Islanders last offseason on a four-year, $14 million contract ($3.5 million cap hit), but his debut campaign was derailed by injuries. He finished with just seven goals and 11 points across 44 games.
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