In a move that stunned the hockey world, New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz has been fired.
The 59-year-old Jack Adams Award winner was relieved of his duties Monday morning, as per Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello. After a horrid 2021-22 season, in which the Islanders missed the playoffs after being expected to repeat their playoff success last year, when they went to back-to-back Conference Finals, the man behind the glass has been kicked to the curb.
“I believe this group of players needs a new voice,” Lamoriello said on a conference call. “This is not negative on Barry Trotz. He is a tremendous human being. [But] these types of decisions are made for going forward and not for backward. The team is on notice right now that the new voice is what’s necessary for us to have success, in my opinion.”
Barry Trotz's four seasons with Islanders..
1. Jack Adams
2. Final four loss to eventual Cup champ
3. Final four loss to eventual Cup champ
4. 13-game road trip, 50 games in 99 days to end season
…there has to be more to his canning than meets the eye.
— Matt Larkin (@MLarkinHockey) May 9, 2022
The blame for the Islanders’ collapse has to be put on somebody, and it appeared that Lamoriello put that blame on Trotz. But the Islanders faced adversity from the beginning, starting their season with a 13-game road trip before playing a single game in their new UBS arena. Then, a COVID-19 outbreak ravaged the team and they were unable to make up the ground in the standings they so desperately needed, from teams such as the crosstown rival Rangers ahead of them.
“This is hockey and this group – a good portion of it – should be back together next year, but there’s always some change,” Trotz said on the matter. “And wherever that change is, then it’ll be a new group, just with a few changes. And hopefully this group has played a lot of hockey, a lot of important games in the last little while, last couple years. And hopefully this summer will be a summer to reflect, a summer to get recharged. The NHL can humble you. We got humbled this year.”
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