Trotz takes Cup-winning experience to Islanders
While the Washington Capitals are watching their Stanley Cup banner rise to the rafters, Barry Trotz will be fresh off a plane in North Carolina, preparing for his own season opener.
Trotz guided the Capitals to their first title last season and in winning it triggered an automatic contract extension far under the present-day market value for top NHL coaches. He resigned less than a week after the parade, joined the New York Islanders and brings with him almost two decades of NHL coaching experience along with that Cup ring.
“Everything he’s gone through and his success, it’s going to be just perfect for us,” Islanders forward Anders Lee said. “There’s plenty of guys on our team that are going to be able to learn from him and his experiences and he’s going to be able to give it to us and make us a better team.”
The Islanders are one of six teams with a new coach this season. The cross-town Rangers went the college route by hiring David Quinn from Boston University, while the Dallas Stars hired Jim Montgomery from the University of Denver. The Carolina Hurricanes promoted assistant Rod Brind’Amour to replace Bill Peters when he left for Calgary and the Capitals made the no-brainer choice of elevating as-
sociate coach Todd Reirden to take over for Trotz.
As Trotz begins what he and general manager Lou Lamoriello hope is an organizational culture change with the Islanders, Reirden has assumed control of a team he knows well from four years as an assistant. Familiarity is Reirden’s biggest asset as he becomes just the fourth coach to take over a defending Cup champion.
“This is probably going to be the smoothest transition of any coaching change that I’ve ever heard of,” Capitals right winger T.J. Oshie said. “Everyone respects Todd, respects the way he coaches, respects how he treats people. What a guy Trotzy is. He’s going to be missed. But he’s on the other side now.”
Trotz bears significant responsibility for changing the culture around the Capitals, buttoning down structure and fostering the right habits for success. New York doesn’t have the talent his old Washington teams did, especially after captain John Tavares left to sign with Toronto, but the Islanders will get a taste of how Trotz makes teams perform better than they look on paper.
“When you say culture change, it’s just a way of doing things,” Trotz said. “It may be the way we present ourselves, the way we react, the way we respond to adversity and all those things.”
Trotz could easily go back to his coaching style from 15 years in Nashville, when he oversaw a team that was short on highend skill but long on hard work and fundamentals. It worked there, as Trotz took the Predators to the playoffs seven times. He made four postseason appearances in six seasons with the Capitals.