Was Barry Trotz holding Nashville back?

[Bloomfield*]

A small player like viktor arvidsson would never get a chance in trotz Nashville

 

[Soundgarden]

A small player like viktor arvidsson would never get a chance in trotz Nashville

No, Arvidsson is a 60 point grinder, he'd definitely get a shot in Trotz's Nashville. Let's not forget Stevie Sullivan was .99 PPG in Nashville before his back injury took him out for 2 years.

 

[PerdFan]

A small player like viktor arvidsson would never get a chance in trotz Nashville

No way...Arvidsson the Energizer Bunny would have been one of Trotzy's fav players. The 2 things that put you firmly in the BT doghouse were:

1. Lack of hustle. If you floated around in your own end or on the back check...you were toast .

2. Lack of effort in the defensively. If you could hit, block shots or defend well, you were Barry's guy.

Arvy is both of those...Trotz would have loved him.
Would Arvy have scored 31 goals in a season under Trotz? Ummmmmm....

 

[predfan24]

Trotz could squeeze blood from a rock but he couldn't mine the gold right in front of his face. I think that's the best way to describe Trotz's tenure in Nashville. He was perfect for an expansion franchise.

 

[Cletus Marley]

Trotz could squeeze blood from a rock but he couldn't mine the gold right in front of his face. I think that's the best way to describe Trotz's tenure in Nashville. He was perfect for an expansion franchise.

Yep. I think that nails it. He was horrible at developing offensively gifted young players. He wanted defensive minded grinders that played to the edge of their ability. So funny that we are having this conversation. This time of year has always been loaded with fire Trotz talk. So ironic that it's happening with the Caps now. I remember when he left I thought he would finally break through with such a stud team. I guess not.

 

[PredsV82]

Maybe the reason Nashville didn't have very many skill players under Trotz is because he didn't want them.

That's silly. Trotz had Kariya, Sullivan, Arnott, Timonen, Weber, Suter, etc. But more often than not he was trying to win with Legwand and Erat on his top line.

You aren't a bad coach if you win the President's Cup in consecutive years.

The playoffs are another story. It did get to the point where you would have thought at least one year under Trotz they would have caught lightning in a bittle, got the lucky bounces, and made a conference final or the cup final. And so fair or not these questions will dog Trotz until he gets deeper in the playoffs a time or two

 

[Reality Check]

I recall many posters here(both neutral and Nashville fans) acting as if parting with Trotz was the biggest mistake in Nashville's history.

I saw plenty of him throughout the years and realize he is a good coach. But only a guy who can take you to a certain point.

They were extremely loyal to him(which is a rare thing these days) and they just waited too long to part ways. The heat should have been on after back to back first round exists to San Jose in the middle '00's.

 

[Guardian17]

I think Trotz would have liked to have Subban in the lineup.

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

Probably was, he gets roasted in the playoffs every year. Even this season his big "move" of putting OV 3LW was because of his injury, not because Trotz suddenly became a master tactician.

 

[3074326]

Maybe the reason Nashville didn't have very many skill players under Trotz is because he didn't want them.

That doesn't make any sense. That would be completely stupid.

He also probably wouldn't have taken the Washington job if he didn't want talent.

 

[Reality Check]

I think Trotz would have liked to have Subban in the lineup.

Having Shea Weber and Ryan Suter in their prime was just as good.

 

[Ainec]

yeah Lavi > Trotz

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I think Trotz is a great regular season coach, and will always have a job in the NHL - rightfully so.

But he's just not a playoff coach.. It took him a 3-1 series deficit once again before making significant line changes. If he made those early who knows what happens.

If you look at guys like Sullivan or Laviolette, they're always involved in the play, vocal, and not afraid to make changes sooner rather than later. On top of this, they always manage to create this "playoff atmosphere" around the team, because of they way they like to be emotionally involved. Tough to explain what i mean with this, but it's kind of like having a likeable teammate behind the bench who stands up for everyone and lifts his team up. You can just see the resiliency these teams have.

So yeah.. Trotz is supposed to be more of a tactical coach, but he's not even that special in that regard. I think in the regular season he's great at sensing when his team might have a tough game in terms of schedule or opponent or whatever, and preps his team well.

 

[JamestheSame]

Yes, Trotz was holding Nashville back. I liked Trotz a lot as a person. However, Poile said that he and Trotz picked the Nashville lineup. Trotz choices:

Eric Nystrom
Matt Cullen
And some other grinder.

Trotz believed he could win with players like that. He never could though.

 

[Shockmaster]

That doesn't make any sense. That would be completely stupid.

It also would not be the first time a coach preferred grinders over skill players.

He also probably wouldn't have taken the Washington job if he didn't want talent.

Much of that talent didn't need to go through any growing pains as they were already well-established players in the regular season.

 

[Kale Hulls]

Nashville wouldn't be where they are now without Trotz. But it was time for him to go.

 

[Bleedred]

I still think this is the one of the best Nashville teams we've seen, especially with Rinne playing like the Rinne of old and the Rinne they had back when the rest of the team wasn't as good as now. Subban is also an upgrade over Weber. 06-07 was a good team and I was surprised the Sharks beat them in 2007 in the playoffs.

Nashville wouldn't be where they are now without Trotz. But it was time for him to go.

Agreed. He was there for 15 frickin years! Aside from a guy that's coached 3 cup winners and been to the conference finals 5 of 9 years since being hired and one random and overrated bum, living off an inflated reputation and one that's very much outdated now, (don't ask me what the hell is going on that Tippett has still been in Arizona, he should have been canned 2 or 3 years ago now) no other NHL head coaches were hired before the decade began.

Jon Cooper is currently the third longest tenured head coach in the NHL right now, hired on March 25th of 2013. Frickin Laviolette is the sixth longest tenured head coach currently and was hired 3 years and a week ago. Trotz is number 7th and hasn't even been on the job for 3 whole years yet. That's how fast coaches are biting the bullet these days. Just at the beginning of the calendar year, Julien, Capuano, Hitchcock, Sutter and Therrien were all with their past teams (or with A team at all in some cases) and had all been with their respective teams for 5 years or more and all got blasted.

Trotz lasted an eternity by today's standards.

 

[Gnashville]

Trotz says he wants every player to play a 200 ft two-way game all the time. What he really wants is offensive skill players to buy in defensively. Guys that normally don't score are giving free passes if they play good defense.

I have never seen him criticize a defensive player for not scoring consistently but he's all over scorers when they play poor defensive games.

He also makes zero adjustments in games and series and depends on his system to correct itself.

 

[Shockmaster]

Trotz says he wants every player to play a 200 ft two-way game all the time. What he really wants is offensive skill players to buy in defensively. Guys that normally don't score are giving free passes if they play good defense.

I have never seen him criticize a defensive player for not scoring consistently but he's all over scorers when they play poor defensive games.

He also makes zero adjustments in games and series and depends on his system to correct itself.

Actually he does make adjustments in series, but it's usually too little too late by the time he does.

 

[glenngineer]

I think Trotz was a solid coach for Nashville. Always got the most out of the talent he had. Unfortunately, when he was given talent, he didn't know how to utilize it. I remember the first game after the Preds had gotten Foppa and Trotz puts him out on the ice with Hartnell and Vernon F'in Fiddler. At that point, I lost all respect for him as a coach. You land a guy like Foppa and you play him with Fiddler? Really? Granted, he wasn't the Foppa we all once knew but he was still the best center the team had at that time(Arnott and Legwand). I just never understood that at all. And to basically be destroyed by SJ 4-1 in the playoffs that year was unacceptable. They killed us on the PP and we had no answer. Oh well. Great guy. Glad he was here for a long time but he should've been gone a long time before he was.

 

[Mortiest Morty]

Maybe the reason Nashville didn't have very many skill players under Trotz is because he didn't want them.

That's absolutely part of it. While Nashville did have some very skilled players, they also loved and overplayed and overpaid their grinders. He had a big say in free agent acquisitions/trades etc. One offseason he targeted Matt Hendricks, Eric Nystrom and a bunch of other grinders/4th liners. Said he was ecstatic about the signings.

 

[lifeisruff]

I'm not sure.

Subban is probably a better defensemen then prime Weber was

Johanson is a better center then.....Riberio? Legwand?

and Forsberg is in his prime years is better then young Forsberg

 

[Mortiest Morty]

I'm not sure.

Subban is probably a better defensemen then prime Weber was

Johanson is a better center then.....Riberio? Legwand?

and Forsberg is in his prime years is better then young Forsberg

He never had Ribeiro, never would have accepted him. I also don't think he would have been on board for a Johansen trade. He expected a lot from centers, I remember one game against Columbus where Jeff Carter had 3 or 4 goals and Trotz criticized him after the game for his effort. Trotz had plenty of talent some years, but as he has been in Washington, he was always a playoff disappointment.

 

[Osprey]

If you're asking if he held them back 10 years ago, when they had lots of talent, that's a fair question, but Trotz was not holding back this current team because he never had it. He was fired 3 whole years ago and, by my count, only 10 players remain on the team from when Trotz was there, and all but Rinne were 23 or younger, so only just getting their cups of coffee or getting comfortable in the NHL.

Perhaps because of that youth and maybe even an early recognition that the league was becoming more speed and skill-oriented, Poile decided to go with a more offensive system. He may've been very smart to recognize what his team needed going forward, but that's not the same as considering that Trotz was holding them back. The latter would suggest that the move was made later than it could've been made, but Poile switched from Trotz to Laviolette at the perfect time for the team, IMO. For that reason, I think that credit should go to Poile, not blame to Trotz.

 

[These Are The Days]

Maybe the reason Nashville didn't have very many skill players under Trotz is because he didn't want them.

And I absolutely believe this now. You give Barry a talented team with the likes that the Caps have and it blows up in his face