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
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.
He's a real professional that's a good human being and helps as a great teammate. When you encompass all those things, he's a real quality player but more so quality person.
That was the turning point. That was a big save.
He's a great player. He's got great hands and he's got speed. He wants the puck all the time. He got three goals and he will be in the Hall of Fame if keeps scoring like that in the National Hockey League, there's no question. But we never got a piece of him all night and we have to set that stage that way and we didn't. He got the hat trick and he deserved it.
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.
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.
This group wants to get better. That's a sign of maturity. But we have to keep everything in perspective. We have to retain our work ethic and work on our speed and structure.
Not relying on someone else to do it is the most satisfying part I think. We just got it done ourselves tonight.
I thought we were real sloppy in our clears and our passes and not real sharp. ... Just chalk it up to 12 games in 20 nights. Guys are trying to get a little rest, and mentally they're not sharp.
He was really good in key areas of the game. He was equal to the task. And it didn't surprise me.
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.
They really stepped it up. This was like the last day of school. Everyone is looking at the clock and it's 2:55. But we were able to maintain our focus.
He's just got to work his way back in and he's a dangerous player for us. He'll have a big impact as the series goes on.
I'm truly honored to be a part of the Portland Pirates Hall of Fame.