One of the first significant moves made by Clarkson Head Hockey Coach Casey Jones in his initial year running the Green and Gold program was his hiring of former Golden Knight standout defenseman Phil Roy as his top assistant. “I am very excited to have Phil join our staff,” stated Jones upon Roy's arrival. “He is an alum who has great passion for Clarkson University, the Hockey program, and the Potsdam Community. He is an up-and-coming coach who has great energy and work ethic. His experience and the fact that he played defense made it a perfect fit.”
Roy has played a key role in Clarkson's return to one of the top program’s in ECAC Hockey, and has helped recruit four NHL Draft picks to the Knights' program. Roy has mentored several freshmen into up-and-coming players in the league on the blueline as Paul Geiger, in 2012-13, James de Haas, in 2013-14, and Kelly Summers, in 2014-15, were named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie team, the first Golden Knights to earn that honor since 2006. de Haas, under Roy's guidance emerged as ECAC Hockey's Best Defensive Defenseman in his senior campaign. With Roy on the staff, Clarkson has posted one of the stingest defensive units in the conference.
Prior to retuning to Clarkson, Roy served for three years as an assistant coach at Merrimack College. During his time at Merrimack, where he was part of the 2010 Hockey East co-Coaching Staff of the Year, Roy was very active in recruiting efforts that helped turn around the Warriors program. He also worked primarily with the defense and the power play unit, which was among the best in the country the past two seasons. Merrimack defeated every other team in Hockey East in 2009-10 for the first time in the program's history and made its first ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance in 2011.
Roy, who is bilingual, came to Merrimack after spending the 2007-08 season as the head coach for the Neumann College Knights. Roy guided the Division III Knights to a 17-9 record and a fourth place finish in the ECAC West Division.
Roy debuted in the coaching world as an assistant at Hobart College prior to the 2005-06 season. During his tenure there, the Statesmen set the school record for most wins in a season and appeared in the Division III Frozen Four for the first time ever. He was a member of the 2006 coaching staff that received Coach of the Year honors from the ECAC West organization.
A productive, offensive-minded defenseman, Roy played a key role in Clarkson’s success during the late 1990s. He recorded 77 career points through 144 games from 1996-2000. The Knights won two ECAC Hockey Regular Season titles (1996-97 and 1998-99), claimed a conference tournament championship (1999) and made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (1997, 1998, 1999) with Roy in the lineup.
After graduating from Clarkson in May of 2000 with an undergraduate degree in technical communications, Roy spent five years playing professional hockey in North America and Europe. He served as an assistant captain and assistant coach for the Diables Noirs de Tours in the France Elite League, where he led the league in scoring by a defenseman. He was also an assistant coach and a captain in the United Kingdom Elite League with the Basingstoke Bison. Prior to his European career, Roy played for the Johnstown Chiefs and Augusta Lynx of the East Coast Hockey League and for the St. John Flames and Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League. He was named team Rookie of the Year by the Muskegon Fury and was selected to the UHL All-Rookie Team in 2000-01.
A St. Leonard, Quebec native, Roy and his wife, Sonia with their daughter, Makaelie, and sons, Maddox and Maxton make their home in the Potsdam area.
