Mr. Trotz Goes to Tampa

Twenty years ago at this time, Caps coach Barry Trotz was coach of the Nashville Predators. But he still had not coached a single NHL game, either. Trotz was hired on to coach the Preds a year ahead of the team's actual first season, and he spent that first year scouting for players along with Predators general manager David Poile.

"I look back at that first season," says Trotz, "and the scouting and not playing that season, and I never learned so much about the game in my life. And it wasn't necessarily the Xs and the Os and systematic play and everything like that. It was about putting together a team. It was a bout putting together people to create an organization, it was about the amount of sweat equity that went into getting that franchise off the ground. I learned so much from David Poile and being a part of that, from putting together rosters and staffs to picking out carpet colors and designing stuff."
Fast forward two decades, and Trotz is not only one of the longest tenured and most respected coaches in the NHL, but he climbed into the top five on the league's all-time wins list a week ago when he recorded the 737th victory of his NHL coaching career. Trotz earns another honor later this month, when - for the second time in the last three seasons - he pilots the Metropolitan Division All-Star squad at the 2018 NHL All-Star Game in Tampa.

"It's always an honor to be selected," says Trotz, "but let's get this right. I'm going there to represent the Washington Capitals' staff and the players. They're the ones who got it done, and I'm the one who gets to go and represent them. I want to really thank them.
"As a group, we started out a new adventure and this one at this point in time put us in a position to send me there to represent them, which is them. I think anytime you experience the All-Star Games, the World Cups, the Olympics and all those things. Those are great experiences, and those don't come along that often."

The honor of coaching the four divisional squads goes to the coaches of the four first-place teams - based on points percentage - on a pre-selected date. Trotz spent Thursday night pressing the flesh at the Caps' annual Casino Night charity benefit, but while he was doing that, his longtime pal Ken Hitchcock's Dallas Stars were finishing off a regulation win over the New Jersey Devils. That Dallas victory over New Jersey cemented Trotz as the Metro All-Star coach. Had the Devils gained a point by losing in overtime, New Jersey bench boss John Hynes would have received the honor.
"Hitch is a good friend," says Trotz. "I was happy for him getting a win against the Devils, but yeah, it's sort of cool in that way, too."
This season will mark Trotz's third time participating in the league's All-Star festivities; he also served as an assistant coach to the Western Conference squad during his decade and a half as the Predators' head coach. As rewarding as it is to be named to pilot this season's Metro All-Stars, Trotz also knows it will be hard to top his 2016 All-Star experience, when he made a triumphant return to Nashville, the host city that season. That was also the year of the John Scott All-Star odyssey, which made for a terrific story when he was named MVP of the game.

"I don't know if you're going to get a better story than what happened in Nashville with the John Scott story," says Trotz. "I really believe that was special with the way it was set up in Nashville. The weather was perfect, they had the stage outside with the country music, the game was good, and I thought the John Scott story was terrific. And the players rallied around it, they really did.
"It's a great experience. It's laid back, it's for the fans, it's for the players - it honors the top players in the game. It's special to be around those guys because you get to see them in a different light. They're not in a really big competitive mode, they're more in a social mode. They all have great personalities and it's a fun time."
Trotz's last two Capitals teams were juggernauts, excellent regular season teams that rolled to high point totals and Presidents' Trophy titles. This year's model didn't start out the campaign as a team that looked as though it had what it took to be in the top spot of the division at midseason. The surprise element helps make this year's trip to Tampa somewhat special in its own regard.

"I think it adds a little more meaning because it means that we've been doing the right things for a long time," says Trotz. "We tried to change the culture - I'll say change the identity - to a culture of winning and being consistent, and adjusting to change and all that. I think that's part of the cultural thing that we started four years ago. There was a lot of turnover this year and a lot of change, so yes, I think it does have more meaning."
Over the summer, the Caps lost several key pieces from the consecutive Presidents' Trophy-winning teams, and they've been running with four rookies in the lineup on most nights - defensemen Madison Bowey and Christian Djoos and forwards Chandler Stephenson and Jakub Vrana. The last time the Caps had four rookies play as much as these four during the regular season was in 1980-81.
"Obviously with all of the young players, you don't know what to expect. The cultural thing and the development of our young guys we have been able to adapt. It says a lot about our group, the leadership group, because they know these players have to play because of our cap situation, and they're helping them along. I give a lot of credit to the [Brooks] Orpiks, and the [John] Carlsons and the [Matt] Niskanens, and to [Evgeny Kuznetsov] with Vrana. I think the Stephenson thing was a team effort over a few years, and they're all coming in to play now and they've done a good job in Hershey of developing guys as well."

Over the last two seasons, there was sometimes a sense that the Capitals were operating on auto pilot. Losing streaks were virtually non-existent, forward lines and defensive pairings stayed intact for lengthy periods of time, as the Caps rolled out to wide leads in the standings. That's not the case at all this season, and Trotz and his staff members have probably had to be a bit more "hands on" this season in terms of coaching.
"There probably was a little bit of auto pilot [the last two seasons]," admits Trotz, "but it's funny, we probably pulled back early in the season. With the group in the past, we just coach and we correct and we just go forward.
"I think this year has been a little bit different, where we've had to more strategically decide when we are going to coach - and not that we don't coach every day - but really when you are going to come down on guys, your message has to be maybe a little different than it was the last couple of years. With the way we ended [the 2016-17 season], we knew it was going to be hard at the start of the year with the schedule, with the number of new guys, with the lack of enthusiasm [in training camp] based on last year and change and all of that.

"We've done a really good job of managing and of understanding when the players are coachable and when they're not. I don't know if I'm saying that correctly, but we couldn't put the hammer on them every day. We had to pull back, and then when they basically were ready for it, we sort of put the screws to them a little bit, and then we pulled back when we thought they had it. I think we've had to be a little more strategic with this group, because they're a little more fragile in some areas, and a little more resilient in others."
The Caps will embark upon the second half of their surprising 2017-18 season on Sunday when they host the St. Louis Blues at Capital One Arena. And three weeks from now, Trotz will be in his familiar spot, behind the bench of an NHL team. But instead of coaching the Caps, he'll be coaching future Hall of Famers in a three-on-three format.

"Anytime you go to the All-Star Game, you recognize that it's special," says Trotz. "It's an experience that you don't want to pass up. For players, it's no different than doing the Canada Cups or the Olympic teams. They're all different, but they're all great experiences. You get to see some of the future Hall of Famers and guys who are prominent players in the league, and the cities that host All-Star Games always do a tremendous job. I'm really looking forward to going to Tampa."