Barry Trotz Finally Recognized For His Accomplishments

The only coach that the Nashville Predators have ever known finally has been recognized for 12 years of pulling rabbits out of his hat to consistently exceed everyone's expectations with the limited talent that he has had on a yearly basis.

Trotz is one of three finalists for the Jack Adams Award given to the coach who has "contributed the most to his team's success." Dave Tippett of Phoenix and Joe Sacco of Colorado also received nominations. The winner will be announced June 23 at the NHL Awards show at the Palms in Las Vegas.

Trotz has been deserving of consideration for several years. Even with Pred’s recent playoff loss, it should be satisfying for Trotz, the organization, and the fans to see Barry on the national stage as a top three coach.

Speaking on NHL Live today after the announcement, Trotz said, "I was a little surprised by the nomination. All three finalists have great assistants and staffs."

Trotz commented on the series with Chicago, he said "This team had the mindset for an upset. Our team has matured and had the ability to go further. Our young leadership group matured and is ready to move forward. Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Pekka Rinne, they were all key"

Trotz discussed the issues with the Predator’s power play, "We were stubborn in making changes. On the power play you have four portals of opportunity and we did not execute on them."

On Pekka Rinne, "Pekka is emerging into a top end goaltender. His being able to recover from situations has really been key. In game five and in game six with the odd goal he was able to come back and in the past, he may not have been able to."

On Jason Arnott as captain, " Jason has matured and done a good job but still has some areas that he needs to work on as anyone would in a situation that he's not completely comfortable with."

Looking to off season changes, Trotz listed keeping Dan Hamhuis, improvement on face offs, and finding additional offense as key goals.

When asked who would be the eventual cup winner, Trotz would not commit to a specific team but said that the winner would come from the west.

Here is the full release from the National Hockey League...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / APRIL 28, 2010

SACCO, TIPPETT AND TROTZ NAMED JACK ADAMS AWARD FINALISTS

NEW YORK (April 28, 2010) -- Joe Sacco of the Colorado Avalanche, Dave Tippett of the Phoenix Coyotes and Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators are the three finalists for the 2009-10 Jack Adams Award, presented to the head coach who has "contributed the most to his team's success," the National Hockey League announced today.

Members of the NHL Broadcasters' Association submitted ballots for the Jack Adams Award at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists. The winner will be announced Wednesday, June 23, during the 2010 NHL Awards that will be broadcast live from the Pearl Concert Theater inside the Palms Hotel Las Vegas on VERSUS in the United States and on CBC in Canada.

Following are the finalists for the Jack Adams Award, in alphabetical order:

Joe Sacco, Colorado Avalanche

In his first NHL season behind the bench, Sacco guided the rookie-laden Avalanche to a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 43-30-9 record just one year after the club finished last in the Western Conference. The Avalanche became the first Western Conference team to make the playoffs after finishing last in the conference the previous year since the current alignment was introduced in 2000-01. The club opened the season on a 10-1-2 run and went on to post a 26-point gain over its total from 2008-09 (69 to 95), second in the NHL to the Phoenix Coyotes' 28-point increase.

Dave Tippett, Phoenix Coyotes

Hired less than a week before the start of the regular season, Tippett led the Coyotes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2002 by posting a 50-27-5 record for 107 points. The club posted an NHL-best 28-point gain over its 2008-09 total, edging Colorado's 26-point improvement, and set franchise records for wins and points in a season, home wins (29) and longest home winning streak (10 games, Nov. 21 to Dec. 29). The Coyotes ranked third in the NHL in team defense (2.39 goals/game), up from 24th in 2008-09 (3.04), and were sixth in the League in penalty killing (84.5%).

Barry Trotz, Nashville Predators

Trotz guided the Predators to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth time in the past six seasons with a 47-29-6 record for 100 points, placing third behind 2009 Western Conference Finalists Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings in the tough Central Division. The club played its best hockey down the stretch, posting the NHL's fourth-best record after the Olympic break (14-6-1). Trotz coached his 900th NHL game, all with Nashville, on Apr. 3 at Detroit, joining Al Arbour (N.Y. Islanders), Billy Reay (Chicago), Lindy Ruff (Buffalo), Jack Adams (Detroit) and Toe Blake (Montreal) as the only coaches to reach the milestone with one team.

History

The award was presented by the NHL Broadcasters' Association in 1974 in honor of the late Jack Adams, longtime coach and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Barry Trotz Leads his Band of Brothers

As the Nashville Predators head down the stretch attempting to make the playoffs for the fifth straight year, one of the most overlooked pieces of the puzzle is Predator’s Head Coach, Barry Trotz.

Trotz is the only coach the Nashville franchise has ever known, and is one of only four coaches that has led his team to four consecutive playoff appearances, dating back to the 2003-2004 season. His 817 games coached with the Preds stands eight on the list of games coached with one team.

General Manager David Poile was familiar with Trotz when he hired him as the Predator’s original coach, the two having worked together in the Washington Capitols organization. Trotz came to the Preds after spending four years as the head coach of the Portland (Maine) Pirates where he led them to the Calder Cup Championship in 1995 and received AHL Coach of the Year honors.

David Poile had a five year plan to build the team from within with draft picks being the primary source of quality players. This strategy left Trotz with an odd mix of inexperienced youth and cast off veterans during that time. In spite of the lack of proven NHL quality talent in the early years, Trotz was able to field a team that would compete with the NHL’s best on most nights.

As the quality of players improved over the years, Trotz stuck with the same basic philosophy of team play every night with “no passengers” as he likes to say. His focus has always been on “character” players and ones that will put the team first. He describes his teams as “a group of twenty, a Band of Brothers”.

This season at the trade deadline, The Predators opted not to pick up another skilled player because of concerns about what it might do to the team and the locker room setting. Trotz and Poile chose to stick by the “character guys” that they already had.

Trotz reflects on the Predators ability to go beyond expectations over the years. "I just think it's with the culture, it's a little bit of everything. Our franchise is an expansion team - we always have been sort of a little bit of the underdog, a little bit of the tryers. We’ve built a culture here where we work hard, we're a family, and we're a team, and guys just sort of play for each other and play hard, and when people doubt us, I think that’s been something that being an expansion team they doubted if we would be very competitive. And I think we were pretty competitive the first couple years.”

He continued, “They doubted we could make the playoffs and we made the playoffs. We've had everything from ownership changes to limited resources in some areas for our team, but we don't really make excuses, we look at that as an opportunity. When players get a chance or someone gets hurt it's an opportunity to show your character and we've got good character and when times are tough that's when you really reveal your character, so every time times are tough and we really respond in a real positive way it reveals our character and I think we've got good character."

Every year that the Predators have made the playoffs with exception of the talent laden 2007 Preds, the team had been counted out repeatedly during parts of the season. This year, two months ago, the Preds were in fourteenth place and going nowhere. They have since risen from the ashes to be in the thick of the Western Conference playoff picture, once again. Even through all the recent injuries that have befallen the Preds, Trotz has held firm and believed in every player he puts on the ice.

Trotz explained his coaching strategy about playing under adversity, “We talk about having no excuses, we went to game five of the series against Detroit last year without Nichol, Arnott and Legwand and we pushed them hard. Everyone talks about opportunities and when you get them you have to embrace them and go for it. We’re pretty close to the finish line and there's no reason to make excuses, guys step up and play, playing as a team is how we win, it’s not going to be one individual putting it on his back, it’s going to be 20 guys pulling together with all they have”.

As the Predators head down the stretch for the last few games, we will see if Barry Trotz, the coaching magician, will be able to pull a few more rabbits out of his hat and take the Predators to their fifth straight playoff appearance. Barry has never received NHL honors for his coaching accomplishments, but fans of the Nashville Predators should be thankful that they have a coach with a steady hand steering the ship on a focused course every year.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass and the Columbia Daily Herald