Andrew Brunette called it fitting.
On a day that began simply enough - until news began to spread of their general manager’s future plans - perhaps an average, uneventful regular season game on a chilly, February night was never in the cards.
Instead, just hours after learning of Barry Trotz’s announcement of his impending retirement, the Nashville Predators found themselves down by a 5-1 count to the St. Louis Blues early in the second period in front of a stunned Bridgestone Arena crowd.
Less than two periods later, that same crowd was jubilant - and those Preds were skating off with two more points in the standings.
Five unanswered goals was all it took to put a bow on a day that will undoubtedly go down as one of the most emotional and memorable in franchise history.
So, when Nashville’s bench boss reflected on what he had just seen play out over a 14-hour span, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile.
“I think it was probably a roller coaster day for a lot of us,” Brunette said following his club’s second four-goal comeback win in as many seasons. “It was kind of an exhausting day, but probably fitting at the same time.”
What was supposed to be a normal game day quickly turned into one nobody really saw coming.
Hours before a planned press conference, news began to leak of Trotz’s intention to announce his retirement plans and step aside from his role as general manager of the Predators once a now-underway search for a new GM is complete.
For Preds players, their days had barely begun before phones started to buzz.
“Well, this was a crazy day all around,” Preds forward Steven Stamkos, who scored the game-tying and game-winning goals on Monday night, said. “I mean, woke up to a couple texts of what was happening, and I didn't know what was going on either. So, obviously some shocking news, but at the same time, once you get a handle on it, nothing's going to be changing much going forward. It doesn't affect our group [as players] in any way… Tonight was a wild one to cap off a crazy day.”
Once players arrived at the arena for morning video sessions and workouts, Trotz addressed the group in a meeting that was described as quick but emotional, especially for those who have been around Nashville longer than most.
“It was a crazy day…with the announcement, everybody obviously caught by surprise, and it was kind of a different morning,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “I have a great relationship with Barry. He was my first coach here. He trusted me in my first couple games, first couple of years with him. Sad to see him go, but…we had an important game tonight.”
That they did.
Every contest at this juncture of the season carries massive weight for the Preds. They’re still in the midst of a hunt for a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, but a string of losses here or there could put them right back out of the chase.
That fact, combined with the realization entering Monday’s outing that only three games remained until the Olympic break, made the Preds well aware of the stakes.
Going down by four goals less than halfway through the game was certainly not part of the plan. But, as they had already done on 16 other occasions this season, they found a way to come back once more.
Stamkos says it was Trotz who began the team’s “Win the Week” motto, which has seemingly been the mantra for the past couple of months by now. They’ve delivered on that ask more often than not over that stretch, and on a day that was different than most, the Preds certainly gave their GM something to smile about.
“I guess at the end of the day, there's lots of ups and downs and lots in between, and you leave on a good note,” Brunette said. “I think of Barry. I’m sure for him, for us too, probably, he's seen so many different things, and he's probably been on a roller coaster ride through his time. Maybe it's a little bit fitting that’s kind of the way the day ended for him, and I'm happy that for him we got that win. I was feeling sick on the bench. [Goaltender Justus Annunen] made some big saves [after he came into the game]. It could have been 7-1 there [early in the second period], and I was feeling really sick about that. So, I'm glad we dug in and found a way to make Papa Barry proud.”
Monday would have been memorable regardless of what happened on the ice that night. But just the second four-goal comeback in franchise history? That’ll be filed away in the memory banks.
For Trotz, who has been a part of professional hockey across 40 years, there had never been a day quite like this.
He’s retiring because he loves his family and wants to spend more time with them. That’s the greatest reason of all. But he admitted during his presser he still loves the game of hockey, too. On Monday night, his team reminded him exactly why that’s also true.
And if they keep embracing his current directive for them? That would be quite a way to finish up a storied career.
“If we can win this week, I like where we're at,” Brunette said. “I like where our game is. I like the belief in our group. I love that we've been battle tested and we've been resilient, and we know what hard is, and we've overcome hard a lot of different times. That’ll be really crucial down the stretch. But again, we need stuff out of this week here to get ourselves into that feeling going into the stretch drive.”
