One of the lasting images from the Capitals‘ playoff run came the morning of Game 7 in the Eastern Conference final.
Usually Alex Ovechkin hustles around the rink in a hot lap prior to the morning skate. Only this time it was 55-year-old coach Barry Trotz
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”I was worried about the turns,” Trotz said. ”The rudders haven’t been sharpened all year. … I almost bit it at the end there trying to imitate
Ovi.”
The Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 that night to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, but they might’ve won Game 7 at that moment.
Rarely in previous postseasons had Trotz been that relaxed, the result of an
unusual situation.
Trotz went into the season without – and still doesn’t have – a contract for next season, a circumstance that almost never happens to an experienced coach of
a team with legitimate postseason hopes. But in a strange way, being a lame-duck
coach might’ve helped Trotz not feel the pressure of past early exits and played
a positive role in getting this far.
”I think it could be the same effect on a player, too, that’s becoming a free agent
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you have your best year when you’re a free agent?”
Trotz has. Even with the fifth-most victories of any coach in NHL history, until this spring he hadn’t made it past the second round in 18 previous seasons
with the Nashville Predators and Capitals. He called it ”luck of the draw,”
running into championship-bound teams from Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh.
This improbable Capitals run that continues with Game 1 of the Cup Final on Monday in Las Vegas is not luck. It’s parts Ovechkin and goaltender Braden
Holtby, and also the right moves by Trotz. He called on Philipp Grubauer to
start the first round in goal before switching to Holtby in Game 2 against
Columbus and watching him get on a roll. He put Jakub Vrana on the top line not
long before the rookie scored the winner in Game 5 against the Penguins and
pushed all the right buttons on rest and preparation.
Teams tend to read cues from a head coach, and those have been positive.
”I think his demeanor has changed a little bit,” MacLellan said. ”He seems a little lighter
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Despite back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies, MacLellan and Capitals management didn’t offer Trotz an extension.
Before the playoffs, Trotz said he hadn’t lost any sleep over his status and referred questions to MacLellan and owner Ted Leonsis. In March, Leonsis said he
doesn’t talk about contracts, and MacLellan has repeatedly stated that any talks
would wait until after the playoffs. There are currently no vacancies in the
NHL.
Toronto’s Mike Babcock is the highest-paid coach at $6.25 million, Chicago’s Joel Quenneville is next at $6 million and Montreal’s Claude Julien comes in at
$5 million. Those three have combined to win the Cup five times.
Trotz’s price tag has gone up however the Final goes against the Golden Knights.
”He’s probably going to benefit from this
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my point of view the lineup questions were that a big deal – but just the
emotional state of our team coming in to start the year and how to handle that,
I think he’s done an outstanding job.”
Trotz survived a 10-9-1 start that culminated with 6-3 and 6-2 losses at Nashville and Colorado, and the Capitals winning 12 of their next 14 games might
have saved his job. Players’ response to Trotz reading them the riot act showed
he certainly hadn’t lost the room.
But a journey of self-discovery last summer went beyond not having a contract.
”It gave me just some clarity on what defines me, what defines us, what defines you,” Trotz said. ”If you don’t win any awards or anything, I’m not
going to look at you any different. If you’re a good person and you treat people
right and you live your life right
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that clarity that everybody looks for the wrong in people rather than the right
and it gave me a lot of clarity. And some things happened in my life that
allowed me to see that and it’s been good.”
Happy, relaxed Trotz has made more appearances in these playoffs than buttoned-down, terse Trotz. He hasn’t soured amid the road bumps this
postseason.
The Capitals have followed Trotz’s even-keeled approach and even been upbeat following losses. Like his players, he’s enjoying the ride.
”Playoffs are fun,” Trotz said. ”They are a grind. But they’re fun. And they should be treated as fun. They’re sort of all the hard that you have to put in
just to get there and it takes even more hard work to go farther, but it is fun.
I’m finding I’m having a blast during the games.”
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