Channeling Barry Trotz, Part V

CHANNELING BARRY TROTZ Part I: On The Forecheck's take Part II: Preds 101's take Part III: Pull My (Fang) Finger's take Part IV: Seth Lake's take Part V: Preds on the Glass' take

And we now conclude our investigation of the success of Barry Trotz and the Nashville Predators with the thoughts of Buddy Oakes, blogger at Preds on the Glass...

I really feel bad for y'all in Columbus after making the playoffs last year and then going through all the stuff you are seeing now. I had Eric Smith on our podcast a couple of weeks back and we talked about all the problems. Pre-season, I had a hunch that Steve Mason would not have as good a second year as his rookie campaign and Eric gave me some insight into the personality change that Mason has undergone over the summer. I talked to Mason at the Awards show in Vegas and he was about as shy as anyone I've ever seen that was a public figure. It's hard to believe that he went from that to being so difficult this season.

I know that Hitch and Trotz are friends and actually called Barry on Hitch's coach's show last week to ask him a question about Pekka being left off the Finnish Olympic team.

I think the primary reason for Trotz's longevity is his relationship with GM David Poile that has goes back to when Trotz was with the Washington Caps AHL team when Poile was with the Caps. Trotz was an assistant in 1991 and was named head coach in 92. In 94-95 his team won the Calder Cup and Trotz was the AHL coach of the year. When Poile came to Nashville Trotz followed.

Channeling Barry Trotz, Part IV

CHANNELING BARRY TROTZ Part I: On The Forecheck's take Part II: Preds 101's take Part III: Pull My (Fang) Finger's take Part IV: Seth Lake's take Part V: Preds on the Glass' take

Continuing our series on Barry Trotz, what makes him so successful in Nashville and what the Columbus Blue Jackets might learn from his (and the Preds') example, let's consider Preds Twitterer Seth Lake, who offers thoughts on the culture that Trotz and the Predators have built over the years:

The key to Barry Trotz's successful and lengthy tenure at the helm of the Nashville Predators franchise has been developing a family-like culture.  Trotz treats his players with a tremendous amount of respect as people first and players second.  Never does he treat anyone as an asset and this in turn allows him to be extremely critical when the need arises without fear that the player will tune him out because ultimately they know how much he cares about them as a person, so no matter what...his criticism is related to their performance on the ice and not ever a personal attack.  In return, Trotz is well-respected within the locker room, throughout the organization, and around the league as well.

Channeling Barry Trotz, Part III

CHANNELING BARRY TROTZ Part I: On The Forecheck's take Part II: Preds 101's take Part III: Pull My (Fang) Finger's take Part IV: Seth Lake's take Part V: Preds on the Glass' take

[Picking up the pre-vacation series, DBJ readers recall that the Columbus Blue Jackets leadership is apparently looking to model their franchise on the Nashville Predators - especially their coach and general manager.  With all of the hue and cry about coaching and whether Ken Hitchcock is the long-term answer as CBJ head coach (which has largely subsided since the team started playing .500 hockey), I asked a few knowledgable Preds bloggers to offer their insights on coach Barry Trotz and what makes him so successful as Nashville's only head coach.
And we've learned a few lessons along the way...]

LESSON 1: Be a good guy, a relationship builder, a guy who worries about tomorrow as well as today.
LESSON 2: Perhaps its "Southern Hospitality", but In Nashville, Keeping Coaches is What We Do.
LESSON 3: Coaching a Scheme that [Columbus] Needs
LESSON 4: Players Coaches

LESSON 5: Beating Teams and Expectations

Next up, AJ in Nashville, blogger at Pull My (Fang) Finger (nice title!).  AJ was kind enough to engage in a little email dialogue with me on the topic of the Preds success...and offer his thoughts on the Columbus Blue Jackets as well.  This is a well written response, and I've edited the response by bolding what I think are the key points that AJ is making.  Hope that helps.

First off let me say that I'm flattered that you'd think to ask my opinion in the first place! I appreciate your kind words with regard to my blog.

I don't know if you've read the handful of posts in which I've keyed upon the Bluejackets, but I myself have expressed frustration over their retarded (no pun intended, I assure you) development. Don't get me wrong -- I'm always going to root for my team first, but I really like Ken Hitchcock as a coach -- primarily because he's so similar in style to Barry Trotz (and because he started this whole Evil Empire deal -- which means he doesn't take himself too seriously -- and I think that's a plus for ANY coach or sports figure in general).

But yeah, I do believe I have a decent handle on what makes Trotz successful at what he does, but it's a kind of unique circumstance that works well here in Music City but may not elsewhere.

Channeling Barry Trotz, Part II

CHANNELING BARRY TROTZ Part I: On The Forecheck's take Part II: Preds 101's take Part III: Pull My (Fang) Finger's take Part IV: Seth Lake's take Part V: Preds on the Glass' take

LESSON 1: Be a good guy, a relationship builder, a guy who worries about tomorrow as well as today.


My ongoing quest for knowledge about Barry Trotz and the lessons we can learn from his success as a model for professional hockey success in Columbus led me to Josh at the Preds 101 blog.  I love how he describes the purpose of his blog: "A blog about the Predators for the football fan.  I love hockey, and have a lot of friends that would love the game if they knew anything about it.  This is my attempt to explain the game to the fans out there that love football, and would love the Preds if they just knew what the heck was going on."  An honorable mission, one of education for the masses.  My type of guy as I look to learn more about Barry Trotz.

And, boy, did Josh bite.  Not only did he answer my email, but he wrote and posted an entire piece analyzing Barry Trotz on his blog in the course of the day!

Thus, with no further ado, here's the Preds 101 take on my question du jour...

Channeling Barry Trotz, Part I

CHANNELING BARRY TROTZ Part I: On The Forecheck's take Part II: Preds 101's take Part III: Pull My (Fang) Finger's take Part IV: Seth Lake's take Part V: Preds on the Glass' take

The Dispatch's Michael Arace offered the "big media" commentary on the firing of St. Louis Blues coach Andy Murray and drew the inevitable comparisons to Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock's job security considering the similar coaching arcs in Columbus and St. Louis over the past two seasons.  Both teams, as you know, made a terrific run to get into the playoffs last season, flamed out in the first round, and have had eminently forgettable years this season.  The piece got some followup attention from the likes of Puck Daddy and ESPN.

Within Arace's piece, which I really like (and am glad to say as I don't want to be labelled as an "Arace hater" for my reaction to one of his past pieces), he extracts a team strategy that I'm not sure I've heard before:

President Mike Priest and Howson believe the Hitchcock style is the way to win in the NHL. They would prefer to keep him in place in the same way that Nashville has kept [head coach] Barry Trotz in place. They believe that continuity is critical in a smaller market, and they are standing firm in this conviction.

Now this is very interesting, as I'm full of envy over how the Nashville franchise is run and has had continued success over its 10-ish years. But it also got me thinking: If Priest and Howson are implying similarities in the job statuses of Hitch and Trotz, might we want to see what has made Trotz so successful as the only coach Nashville has ever had?

This demanded further examination.