News Article: Barry Trotz (among many other things) breaks down the Pens' success

[Jaded-Fan]

Very interesting X's and O's break down of what the Pens did from a coach that I think a lot of and who they beat only a few months ago. It was part of a larger interview. A few of the highlights, but the whole thing is worth reading:

.....Where did we lose the series? We thought we lost the series last year in terms of the bottom end of our roster, the three and four lines got outplayed, but Pitt’s third-line outplayed everybody’s third and fourth line.

....

Everyone talked about Pittsburgh’s speed, but it’s not like you guys are slow. Did they have that success mostly with how they deployed it?

I think what Pittsburgh did against us, is their defense never made a D-to-D pass other than (Kris) Letang. They got it and they flipped it out. Their mantra was ‘as soon as the puck’s over the blueline, get it out as quick as possible’ and they would flip pucks out. They got it, hammered it out and chased it down. I was sort of joking that I used to do that when we were under siege all the time in my first year in Nashville. It was ‘when in doubt (send) it out.’ If there was any doubt on whether you could get the puck out, it had to go out and it would be flipped out somewhere and live to fight another day. They simplified their game defensively with their defense – get it and get it out quickly and don’t try to make too many plays. I thought they did a really good job. Everybody talks about their speed offensively, but the speed I found was more dangerous defensively. It allowed them to defend better because they got back quicker. They were very committed to blocking shots. They collapsed and got in the lanes and they were very committed defensively. They had good goaltending and played strong, structural defense. They were committed on all four lines. They talk about the four lines but they were also a quick start team. They led almost every game. If they won they probably led the game right from the start. Any time they got scored on first – I don’t think they were able to win as many games.

And then they deployed their third and fourth lines – some teams would say ‘how did they get so much time out of that Matt Cullen line?’ Well they had a lot of faith in Cullen and Crosby and Bonino’s line so what they would do, you’d get in the offensive zone and they would stick Cullen’s line out there. So I’m going ‘we’re down a goal, why put Mike Richards’ line out there when I could put Backstrom’s or Kuznetsov’s line out there against Cullen?’ But they were very good defensively and good on draws and that’s how they deployed their fourth-line and you would be trailing the game, so your fourth-line didn’t get a lot of time because you didn’t have the fourth-line that they did. I wasn’t putting my fourth line out when Crosby was in our end. I was going with Backstrom, so Backstrom was getting extra shifts. That happened with every series they played because their fourth line was that good defensively for them.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/barry-trotz-subban-vs-weber-000000295.html

Click to read more...

 

[mpp9]

Our speed on the backcheck, getting the puck out of the D-zone asap and our bottom six could actually score.

Trotz may look weird, but hes bang on. Not sure if Lars Eller is enough for them, but theyre on the right track.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

His thoughts on Cullen really struck me as well.

Check out the TOI per game for the players in the playoffs:

http://www.foxsports.com/nhl/pittsb...sonType=2&category=ICE+TIME&type=1&position=0

The Pens did not merely pay lip service to giving huge roles to each line. As I showed before, Cullen was on almost 60 defensive zone starts against SJ and only 6 offensive zone starts. As Trotz said, his line simply owned top lines and were the unsung heros. To get that for a million per?

Priceless.

As an aside, I only excerpted some of his comments about the Pens, there is more that he said about them, and it was a part of a larger interview on a few topics. But you can not quote everything, so worth reading all of the comments by the link to see all of his thoughts.

 

[AltDess]

Thank heavens for Matt Cullen!

Malkin didn't take d-zone faceoffs after the NYR series.
#ImScore #tshirts #Geno #hesofunny #fourthlinerolesuperstar

 

[plaidchuck]

So Backstrom is so soft he couldn't even attempt to exploit a fourth line center that's 40? Aaaaaand that's why Washington wont win while they're in this window.

That's exactly why the Pens won though, they played top lines to a draw at worst and let their depth clean up.

 

[JTG]

I'm not sure everyone knows how pivotal Matt Cullen was to this team's successes this season. His line provided offensive depth, and he was a guy who was always out when the mins really mattered.

 

[HuskerTornado]

Well I'm glad he pointed out that when the Pens scored first they probably won those games and when they didn't score first they probably didn't win as many of those. That's a John Maddenism or Yogi Berraism for sure.

 

[plaidchuck]

Yeah reading the rest of the article smacked of a little bit of sour grapes. Saying they deserved a better result than they got. What is it with Washington coaches and whining? The entitlement in that franchise must seep down from the owner.

Maybe he should ask himself why it took the nhl goal leader six games to score a gimme PP goal.

Bah. They can enjoy their useless pres trophy and the jack adams he won for opening and closing the bench door in the season.

 

[JTG]

I like Trotz. I think he did a hell of a job with what he had in Nashville all those years, but he really has sounded like a whiny ***** since we've played them in the playoffs.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

The Pens also have retained 97 percent of their cup winning scoring. That is the second highest total for a cup winner. And is fairly rare. Cup winners above 90 percent go very far in the playoffs the next year. Those who are below that number do not. Carolina for instance had the lowest percentage in history at 53 percent.

The games of course are played on the ice, not on computers. But still JR is making all the right moves.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

"Well they had a lot of faith in Cullen and Crosby and Bonino’s line."

Heh... a rather conspicuous non-mention, there.

 

[JTG]

One has to wonder what this team would have been able to do if Evgeni Malkin was 100%. Think about that for a second.

I would love to see how 7 games would go with a healthy Geno and a healthy Stamkos for Tampa. In my opinion, we played the Cup finals three times as both Washington and Tampa could have been there.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

One has to wonder what this team would have been able to do if Evgeni Malkin was 100%. Think about that for a second.

I would love to see how 7 games would go with a healthy Geno and a healthy Stamkos for Tampa. In my opinion, we played the Cup finals three times as both Washington and Tampa could have been there.

Pfft. He was as healthy as he's ever going to get.

Wondering about a "healthy" Evgeni Malkin is a pointless exercise.

 

[mpp9]

Jesus man. Malkin was healthy and dominant in the 13-14 playoffs. He was the only reason we didnt get embarrassed earlier while Sid played like **** for three consecutive playoff series.

I dont care if he misses 20 regular season games, as long as he can be ready to go come playoffs. If he cant do that for the third straight year, then yeah, it may be time to reassess things.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

I like Trotz. I think he did a hell of a job with what he had in Nashville all those years, but he really has sounded like a whiny ***** since we've played them in the playoffs.

He sure did a great job winning one whole playoff game in 07 with one of the best rosters in the last decade.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

The retention article that I referred to:

It’s an impressive rate of retention for general manager Jim Rutherford and his staff, tangible evidence they’re doing everything possible to correctly manage the NHL salary cap.

Of the 201 points the Penguins scored in the 2015-16 postseason, 97 percent of them are coming back. Zatkoff won one game, Bennett played one game, and all six points belonged to Lovejoy, a defensive defenseman.

A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette analysis found that 97 percent figure to be the second-best rate of retention since the 2004-05 lockout, trailing only the 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings. That team returned 98 percent of its playoff scoring the following season.
....
Repeating as Cup champions is next to impossible. Detroit was the last team to do it (1996-97, 1997-98), but those were uncapped seasons. Detroit retained about 95 percent of its scoring. Ironic: Goalie Mike Vernon was traded ahead of an expansion draft. Tragic: Defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov’s career ended in a limousine crash.

Of the 11 capped teams studied — 12 if you count these Penguins — a 90-plus-percent retention rate led to, at minimum, a trip to the conference final the following season. Teams below 90 percent won one playoff series (2009-10 Penguins).

.....

It’s also a lot easier for Rutherford, Jason Botterill, Bill Guerin and Jason Karmanos to look like salary-cap magicians when they have players severely outplaying their contracts. It’s one of the many reasons the Blackhawks have been so good for so long.

It’s also a luxury that Rutherford did not have the last time he won the Cup. In 2006, the Carolina Hurricanes returned just 53.5 percent of their playoff scoring the following season, the worst in the post-lockout era by nearly 15 percent.

http://lancasteronline.com/sports/i...cle_d7303cb3-6ed5-5110-a0b4-d5d8f0b794f6.html

 

[Jaded-Fan]

He sure did a great job winning one whole playoff game in 07 with one of the best rosters in the last decade.

Trotz was hamstrung by budget until now. I like him a lot as a coach as well and wanted him for the Pens.

I think that Sullivan is better now, especially for this team and how it is built, but I respect Trotz as one of the very good coaches in the game.

 

[plaidchuck]

I'm just glad we get to enjoy a summer that isnt full of these useless platitudes of hot goalies, goals that should have gone in, and games they dominated but didnt win.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

One has to wonder what this team would have been able to do if Evgeni Malkin was 100%. Think about that for a second.

I would love to see how 7 games would go with a healthy Geno and a healthy Stamkos for Tampa. In my opinion, we played the Cup finals three times as both Washington and Tampa could have been there.

They really did run the gauntlet for the cup. I wonder about Letang and his foot as well, he didn't have an amazing playoffs but he had that going on and got it done. I wouldn't bet on either of those two being close to 100% healthy for an entire run anyway... or the Pens in general. It's the playoffs and it's an injury prone team.

What were the injuries anyway?

Letang's foot, Malkin's elbow, Kessel's hand, Bonino's elbow, Kuhnhackl's foot, Cullen's toe, Daley's ankle, Maatta's concussion, Rust got banged up a few times and I think broke a finger in game 6, Kunitz's iron, Fleury's concussion, Murray's concussion, maybe Sheary's knee and Hornqvist took a few heavy shots to the hand. Did Fehr miss a game as well? iirc Ovechkin made Crosby think he was done but that turned out fine as well.

 

[Scuz39]

Well I'm glad he pointed out that when the Pens scored first they probably won those games and when they didn't score first they probably didn't win as many of those. That's a John Maddenism or Yogi Berraism for sure.

Yeah I am getting pretty sick of that "statistic." What team doesn't win more after scoring the first goal (baring small sample size issues.)

 

[BHD]

I think the "whining" (or whatever you want to call it) is more him trying to save face for his team. I find it hard to downplay him since I wanted the organization to bring him in after Bylsma was fired. But now, I don't think he would have been the right coach for this team. Nevertheless, good read.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

I think the "whining" (or whatever you want to call it) is more him trying to save face for his team. I find it hard to downplay him since I wanted the organization to bring him in after Bylsma was fired. But now, I don't think he would have been the right coach for this team. Nevertheless, good read.

I did as well. I thought that the Pens could do well with a modified trap with the quick strike ability of players like Sid and Malkin to go the other way. l really just wanted a coach who had ability and a definable identity for the team. To say 'Peguins hockey' and everyone knowing what you mean. The Pens went a different and better direction in building around their stars, but Trotz and his ways would have had success here as well I am sure.

 

[WayneSid9987]

One has to wonder what this team would have been able to do if Evgeni Malkin was 100%. Think about that for a second.

I would love to see how 7 games would go with a healthy Geno and a healthy Stamkos for Tampa. In my opinion, we played the Cup finals three times as both Washington and Tampa could have been there.

Thing is, the Pens are entering a window where they can afford another impact/youngish LW'er.

So imagine what a 100% Geno + that winger could do.

 

[JTG]

He sure did a great job winning one whole playoff game in 07 with one of the best rosters in the last decade.

What are you talking about?

 

[bambamcam4ever]

What are you talking about?

The 06-07 Nashville Predators had essentially 3 first lines, 4 Dmen who were either #1's at the time or would be seen as such within the next 3 years, and Vokoun as goalie. They won one playoff game that year under Trotz.

Trotz' greatest trait as a coach may be his ability to convince people that he had nothing to work with in Nashville.