Good Morning, Islanders Country.
If you’re a New York Giants fan, you may remember that, ahead of the 2011 season, head coach Tom Coughlin introduced the theme “Finish” after multiple years of not ending games and the season strong.
To bring the idea into focus, he showed his team a video of a high school cross-country runner named Holland Reynolds collapsing near the end of the race. Her body gave up on her, but she crawled and willed herself to the finish line.
These motivational tactics don’t always work, but Coughlin’s message set the tone for the season, a season which finished with the Giants winning the Super Bowl.
I don’t know if watching that video or any video would change anything for the Islanders, but I do know that Patrick Roy needs to try something. He needs to mentally shake things up for a team suffering from a crisis of confidence and lack of belief they can finish games, no matter how much they insist otherwise.
“We need to continue exactly what we're doing," Roy said after Monday night’s 4-2 loss to Detroit. "Changing won't help us, so let's keep doing what we're doing well.” Roy may feel that the Islanders are playing good hockey and that things are bound to turn around, but I respectfully disagree with his assessment.
He has to change something, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be systemic or related to the lineup. He needs to alter this team’s mindset. Telling them and the fanbase things will improve because they deserve better isn’t a strategy.
