Barry Trotz
Barry Trotz
Barry Trotzis the head coach of the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals and the former head coach of the NHL's Nashville Predators. He was previously the coach of the American Hockey League's Baltimore Skipjacks and Portland Pirates, with whom he won an AHL championship in 1994. That same year, he won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award, which is awarded to the outstanding coach in the AHL as voted upon by the AHL Broadcasters and Writers. On February 20, 2013...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth15 July 1962
CityWinnipeg, Canada
against defense definitely guy joe might physical played start suited year
Witt played against Joe Thornton a lot in Washington, and we've got a physical guy in (Shea) Weber. I think our defense is definitely better suited than it was at the start of the year. Having Joe Thornton go against the defense we started the year with might have been a little mismatch.
certain games horse next nice start
I just said to the guys, 'When certain things end you've got to get back on the horse and start all over again. That's over with, that's a nice chapter. Let's do something now through the next 73 games. The next 73 games are as important as the first nine.
built finished game higher hoping maybe next shot start until year
His game shot up to a higher level. He started slowly, but he built up until he got hurt. I'm hoping he can start the year like he finished it when he was still healthy, and maybe even take it to the next level.
final learned penalties period periods played playing second skate start third took
I learned a lot about our character. We didn't back off. We didn't get off to the start we wanted. In the first period ... we took some undisciplined penalties and we didn't skate. But in the second and third periods we did skate and we played the way we have been playing and it showed in the final result.
exactly letter protects puck rules starting sure
He protects the puck very well, but I'm starting to look at those penalties, and they're pretty weak. But they are penalties, if you want to go the letter of the law. On some of them, I'm not exactly sure what the rules are. They're different rules for him, I guess.
against cycle energy hard puck six start takes top wear
They cycle well against anybody. You look at their top six forwards, they're big men. They can wear you down. It's hard to get it back once they start cycling. It takes a lot of energy to get the puck back sometimes. It takes away a lot of your offense.
came good marginal parker player reaction san starting swing turns
Parker came over the glass, and your first reaction is one of disbelief. Witt turns around, and his first reaction is to swing back. I don't like that trade-off. ... Parker is a marginal player for San Jose, and Witt is really starting to do some good things for us.
bit came easy foot game gas hard human human-nature nature start
Things came to us real easy in the first period. It is a little bit of human nature to let your foot off the gas a bit after a start like that. When a game is so easy at the start it is a hard game to play.
create fine gave giving line respect zone
I thought we gave them way too much room. There is a fine line between respect and giving them too much respect. We were giving them a zone to create some speed.
focused key power
I thought the power play and the goaltending were key for us. Mentally, we weren't as focused as we should be.
blind game guys hope job played puck smart solid terms win
I thought our whole roster played well. That's how you win in this league. You need 20 guys to contribute. We played a real smart game in terms of puck management. We did a real solid job with the puck. We had no blind or hope passes. I think we managed the game well.
blues changed deeper last maybe power
I think it was a combination of things. The Blues were deeper than we were and maybe a little tougher, and their power play was unbelievable. But in the last 18 months, the climate's changed a little bit.
account bank dig dug early games hole hopefully mentally middle ourselves saw stretch tough
We dug ourselves such a big hole early on. I always say that mentally and physically, you have a bank account as a team, and we had to go to the bank account real early. At the end of the season, we overdrew in some areas. When you dig yourself in a hole, it's tough to get out of. Hopefully what you saw in the 55 to 57 games in the middle stretch is more of what you'll see from the Predators. We're going to have to be more resilient.
fights seven zero
We had zero fights in our first seven games. We made up for that tonight.