Should the Caps Fire Barry Trotz (February 19th)

[VaCaps Fan]

Trotz has earned an extension if there was ever a question about one!

 

[Ajax1995]

Not trying to moderate the discussion but it seems like now isn’t exactly the best time to argue Trotz should be gone.

And yet there are people still happy to do it. Which just goes to show that they made up their minds a while ago and current results mean nothing. For those people Trotz gets credit for next to nothing that goes right but continues to be almost completely to blame for anything that goes wrong.

Also I find it amusing, though in no way surprising, that those who continually argued that since he couldn’t get a much better team on paper the previous couple seasons out of the second round there was absolutely no way this team was getting there are conspicuously silent on the subject now.

 

[RandyHolt]

I am getting annoyed that Barry's future is suddenly a hot topic. We are in the middle of the playoffs. And its not just an HFer bumping a thread.

 

[twabby]

I’m with RH on this. The dude led the team to a ECF for the first time in his and Ovie’s career and the first time in 20 years for the team. Whatever reasons people may have for wanting to see him go, perhaps those arguments could wait until after the postseason. Seems like bad mojo to discuss it while they are still playing, and this is from a guy who wanted to see him fired mid-season.

 

[g00n]

A lot has happened since this poll. I don't know that it's even relevant now.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

A lot has happened since this poll. I don't know that it's even relevant now.

Yeah, I think we should ask the question again when our playoff run ends.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Trotz has earned an extension if there was ever a question about one!

This should go well....

 

[txpd]

Trotz is a special pro sports coach. His tenure with two different organEYEzations(this his pre Nashville time with the Capitals) is a testament to that. The Caps having lost in heartbreaking fashion 3 playoffs in a row only to improve the next season is another testament to that. I include this season as improved when accounting for the off season roster damage followed by another division title.

Put some reasonable playoff success on his resume and he is among the all time great coaches.

This may be his last best shot at winning a cup. I am quite curious to see how he does.
I'll say it again. By all appearances Alex Ovechkin loves him.

 

[Langway]

Trotz has earned an extension if there was ever a question about one!

This logic just sort of assumes it's all gravy from here on out and that really shouldn't be the case. If they're swept by Tampa Bay (doubtful but let's run with it) then the season may be a success in terms of incremental progress but I still wouldn't call it enough sustained post-season progress. They need to be very highly competitive in this series or else I'd be more inclined to chalk up their success to a Pittsburgh team that sort of ran out of gas. It wasn't that simple but that combined with some nagging injuries opens the door for that series victory to not carry quite as much weight as it otherwise might on its own. It's still helpful psychologically in being the team to end their run and shut them down but there remain crucial chapters to be written here.

This run probably helps Reirden's credibility as a replacement if Trotz steps aside. I think the reality is that Trotz was never as bad as they made him seem during past playoffs failures and he's probably not as brilliant as the players made him look during the Pittsburgh series either. A lot of it does come down to execution, buy-in, bounces and the like. I tend to think he does leave too much of offensive fundamentals/details as optional relative to other coaching tenets of his but there's some logic in offense coming from defense and improved speeds helps mightily in that regard. I'd think that ownership probably does believe he's done enough to earn another contract regardless of any disagreements he has with MacLellan or how the rest goes. I don't doubt at all that it is basically gravy to them. But Trotz has to want to keep coaching and perhaps there's some doubt about that if Friedman and others are right in their lip reading at the end of the CBJ series.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

Yeah, maybe I got a little ahead of myself.....

 

[RandyHolt]

We could have easily lost game 6, after the s1d slew and A1 scoring chance right after that. That'd have shifted all the pressure on us, in our own pressure cooker...

Hockey games have more chaos theory in play than any other sport. Games can go either way. The better team on any given night, does not always win. The more evenly matched the teams are (playoffs), the more likely a coin flip decides the game.

Disclaimer. Chaos Theory is over my head I was just trying to sound smarter than I am. Duh.

 

[Bananas]

I’m giddily preparing myself for a pot luck style feast of every recipe of crow imaginable...

 

[HunterSThompson]

I’m giddily preparing myself for a pot luck style feast of every recipe of crow imaginable...

Tastes like penguin.

 

[EroCaps]

I'm leaning toward "No" with a solid "f*** No" if the Caps give the Bolts a long series.

I expected this team to finish 5-8th in the East, if not miss the playoffs, and certainly be bounced in the 1st round.

Barry still needs to allow his young skill players the freedom to fail, otherwise he's an excellent coach.