A Question from Columbus: "Barry Trotz... How Does He Do It?"

Today I got a great question from Dark Blue Jacket, a Columbus Blue Jacket Blogger.  Recently the St. Louis Blues fired their coach Andy Murray, and some people in Columbus are wondering whether the same fate awaits Blue Jacket coach Ken Hitchcock.  Hence the question:

"What makes Barry Trotz the ideal coach for the Preds? What is it about his coaching and/or leadership style that allows him to stay as the team's only coach when some teams change coaches more often than they change third jerseys?"

I have no doubt that Tennessee sports fans may well disagree with my answer, or with the premise of the question entirely.  Regardless, I think DBJ is spot on, and here are my top four reasons for why Barry Trotz (and, to some extent, Titans coach Jeff Fisher) have been successful long-term coaches in Nashville.

To put it simply, Nashville's fans (and management) trusts our professional coaches.  That trust been rewarded with defensively minded teams that are almost always competitive.  Barry Trotz (and Titans' coach Jeff Fisher), are "player's coaches." So even if some fans are disgruntled, you'll never hear any negative quotes coming out of the locker room.  In a small market like Nashville, you need a system based on character, grit, and hard work.  Trotz epitomizes and breeds success in that system, which is good, because no superstar free agent is going to walk through the door anytime soon.

UPDATED: What are your thoughts?  Share them in the Poll and/or comments below.

1.  Perhaps its "Southern Hospitality", but In Nashville, Keeping Coaches is What We Do.

Preds' coach Barry Trotz  is second longest tenured coach in the NHL.  Trotz began coaching the Preds in 1997, and over 12 years later is the only coach this city has ever known.Titans' coach Jeff Fisher is the longest tenured coach in the NFL.  Fisher began coaching Titans in 1994 and over 15 years later is only Titans' coach this city has ever known.

Two coaches... 27+ years.  Enough said.

We keep our coaches.  Local media often remarks that Nashville isn't the most critical sports city. We give a fair amount of deference, and trust that the GMs, coaches, and staff are doing their jobs.   Of course, the city can be patient when our teams tend to win more then they lose.  But the point is this, in some cities a losing streak can end a tenure, and the years of hard work that have gone into building and molding a team.  Not here.

2. Coaching a Scheme that Nashville Needs

Predators fans, Canadian media, and everyone else knows one simple fact:  the Predators are going to be spending near or at the salary cap floor for the foreseeable future.  It takes a long time to develop a team that can succeed in that type of system.  Fans realize that, and GM David Poile and Coach Trotz realize that.  It helps that both Poile and Trotz have been at the helm together for over a decade now, slowly and methodically building that system.  This "Lunch Pail Gang" mentality, outlined really well by AJ in his Pull My (Fang)Finger blog, is what Trotz breeds: a hard working, role playing, team first, defensive, take-care-of-the-puck, system, develop talent from within, system.  Over the years, the different rosters may have forced  variations on this coaching theme... but the theme is always the same.

It should be noted this is almost exactly the same style and system that the Titans and Jeff Fisher employ as well.

3. Player's Coaches

Both Fisher and Trotz are class acts, and Player's coaches. One predators blogger, Mark from The View from 111, wrote up this piece about Trotz last week.  As a result, one thing you almost never hear in Nashville is locker room dissent from the players.  Disgruntled fans may jaw on the radio, but you never hear any quotes from players as ammunition.  In Steve Sullivan's words:

Sullivan said one of the reasons Trotz has been around since 1997 is the coach's ability to form relationships with players. "I definitely think he's a players' coach ... He has an open-door policy. He takes into account a lot of the players' ideas. We not only have captains, but a leadership group that meets regularly to talk about the month ahead, what our plans are. There are no surprises from the coaching staff. That's what we're looking for, an idea of what our game plan is."

When the players are happy, everybody's happy.  Conversely, look at former Titan Albert Hayneswoth.  Under Fisher, he was kept relatively in check when talking to the media.  Half a season later, he's denying rumors of organizing a player boycott in Washington.

4. Beating Teams and Expectations


Expectations are critically important for coaches who want to keep their jobs.  In last season, when expectations were high, and the team fell short, it was because of an ownership crisis.  This season, like our early seasons, the Predators were, well, supposed to be terrible.   We win more games that we "should", and Trotz always gets a lot of credit for that.

Expectations for the Predators will likely always be a little lower than other, larger markets.  What the fan base does demand and expect is that that the coaching staff has the attention and respect of the locker room.  So long as that is the case, Trotz can be behind the Nashville bench for years to come.

Today's Poll

Side-by-Side Breakdown: Turnovers Below the Goal Line

Pred Nation,  Happy New Year!  Good win last night by the Predators.  Almost every PredBlog had a recap last night, so check them out on the blogroll.

Turnovers.  They will kill any team, including last night's opponents the Columbus Blue Jackets.  In this special edition of Anatomy of a Goal, let's do a Side-by-Side Breakdown to see how defensive turnovers by the Blue Jackets below the goal line resulted in two easy goals, a win, and two points, for the Predators.

The Breakdown

Thuresson's tying goal is on the left.  Legwand's OT game winner is on the right.

1. In both shots, the Columbus player has the puck against the boards in their own zone.  Both puckholders are being pressured by an aggressive Predator's forecheck.

2. In both cases, the Columbus player attempts a pass because of the pressure by the Preds' forecheck.
--On the left:  the player attemps to pass to a player behind him (and not to the player on the left of the screen).   This is a bad pass because, as we can see from the replay, the only person behind him is a Predator.
--On the right:  The pressure causes the Blue Jacket to get tripped up.  The player makes a pass while he is falling, which is good.  However, lets just say the pass was quite crisp and tape-to-tape.

3.  The bad pass results in a turnover.  Once each Predator gets the puck, he does a good job of making a quick pass.
--On the left: The turnover is relatively easy, as the Columbus player passes the puck directly to the Predator.  However, the active forecheck was what resulted in the Predator being in position to recieve the pass.
--On the right:  Joel Ward does an EXCELLENT job of fighting for this puck and creating the turnover.  Watch the replay and check it out.  What a player.  Once Ward is able, he quickly makes a pass.  (We've seen where this kind of grit scores Pred's goals before).

4.  The passes are both quick and to Preds standing wide open in the slot.  What a shooter's pipedream.  Both shots catch the Columbus goalie moving, and the shots are so close in that that goalie has no time to react.  Easy goals.

Conclusion & Video
What impresses me about these plays (and admittedly I did not get to watch the due to new year's eve festivities), is the aggressiveness of the Predators in forcing the turnovers.  These are not necessarily the prettiest goals.  These (especially Joel Ward's) are hard work goals.

Credit also belongs to the Columbus defense, who apparently are not the best at clearing men out of the slot. Keep in mind, however, that when the play is below the goal line, at least one defenseman usually is too, which means it is easier for a forward to creep in front of the net.  A quick play like this is very hard to defend against.  Here's to hoping that the Preds get to score alot more of these goals, and that they can limit their recent trend of sloppy turnovers as well.

Thuresson's Goal


Legwand's Goal

If you like BEN ROETHLISBERGER, You'll Love RICK NASH

Welcome to the second eagerly anticipated installment of "If You Like ____, You'll Love ____." Today's listing looks at the captain of tonights rival, the Columbus Blue Jackets.   Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets:  these two large offense machines have the potential to terrorize opposing defenses, hit an opponent in the mouth, and put up points in bunches.  More importantly, both of their teams still on the outside of the playoff race, looking in.  On the field, they have similar playing styles.  Off the ice... well they're pretty different.  Regardless, you're head-to-head comparison after the break!

Basically, the players are built the same, burst on the scene at an early age, play the same physical style, and have Ohio ties.

Scoring Ability

Check out Nash's top 10 goals here:


Similarities

1. Rookie of the Year:  Both were nominated, though Ben actually won Rookie of the Year.
2. Power:  Both are power players.  Both can deliver a big hit when necessary.  The physical play is especially important to Rick's game.  
3. Size:  Rick = 6'4, 220 lbs.  Ben = 6'5, 240 lbs.  Both are pretty big guys for their position.
4. Ben grew up in Ohio and Ben play's in Ohio.  I've never been there, but I'm sure its lovely.  
5. Both can score some serios points.  In Rick's second season (age 19), he scored 41 goals, tying Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk (two really top notch players) for most goals scored that season.  In Ben's second season, he lead the league in yards per attempt, and won a little thing called a Superbowl (sure, it was the worst winning QB performance in Superbowl history... but its like they say about a doctor who graduates last in his class...).

Differences

1. Ben Rethliswhatever has a ridiculously long name.  Rick Nash's = bloggers best friend.
2. Ben has won 2 superbowls... Rick has been swept lost one playoff series.
3. Rick is well known for his work in the community.  He won the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2009, which is awarded to the player "who applies the core values of hockey—commitment, perseverance and teamwork—to enrich the lives of people in his community".  Ben... well, he's best known off the ice for a terrible motorcycle accident and a sexual assault allegation.

Rick Nash against the Predators

Currently Rick's 33 points leads his team, and is significantly better than the Predators top players: Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont both are tied for 20 points.  Regardless, the Blue Jackets are have been terrible, and I mean TERRIBLE, against the predators.  (The Preds have won the last 13 against the Blue Jackets, which, IMHO, is one of the worst team names in the NHL).  On the other hand, Ben and the Steelers, if you remember, beat the Titans in a heartbreak of a NFL season kick-off game, and started a run that crushed Titan spirits everywhere.


A Disclaimer


The comparison between Rick Nash & Ben Roethlisberger was not my first choice, and isn't the most persuasive comparison outthere. I expect to get blasted on the comments about it. I was planning an amazing Like/Love with Jordan Tootoo... but thanks to Shea Weber & Tootoo's broken foot, that will have to wait 3-4 weeks. In the interim, I decided to profile Rick Nash on the advice that a friend gave me: "I know to root for the good guys... tell me who to root against for the bad guys." For these Like/Love posts, the goal is to get it 80% right and 80% accessible to the less-than-average fan, then to get the discription 100% right, and sacrifice accessibility in the process.


That being said, if you have a better comparison, please feel free to leave it in the comments. I'd love to hear it!