Trotz interested in coaching Canucks
/Coaching free agent Barry Trotz was on with Team 1040 in Vancouver Thursday afternoon.
On if he'd be interested in coaching the Canucks:
"I am interested in every job that's out there right now. Obviously I have a home in British Columbia, in the Vernon area. Yeah, I've watched the Canucks organization a little bit from afar and played against them for a number of years and there's a lot of quality people there, so absolutely. I'm interested in every opportunity right now and really not in any hurry, so from that standpoint I would say yeah."
On if he's talked with Trevor Linden:
"No, I'll be honest, I have had no contact with the Canucks. And really it's not - they have other issues to deal with right now, so at this point I am in absolutely no hurry to do anything. I've been contacted by a few teams and I said, I'm in no rush to do anything right now, so...
"Everybody has their own timeframe. There's a couple of teams that have basically said 'give us some time and you've on our short list', so that's where I am."
On if he has a style of hockey as a coach:
"I try to look at our team objectively. Someone asked me, you know, you're known as a defensive coach. When your star players are your goaltender and one or two defensemen, you're going to get labeled as a defensive coach. I think to win you have to have a good balance.
"When I had Paul Kariya for a short time in Nashville, we had Scott Upshall and a couple of our younger guys who were more of the offensive-minded type of guys, we were very aggressive. We scored a lot of goals. We were in the Top 10 in scoring. You know, I look at our team objectively.
I have two priorities: a) The players on our team have to get better. For me, I'm in a partnership with the players so that they can play to their potential most nights. The other thing is I have to find a way for that group to come together and win hockey games. And it's pretty simple. It really is. You're in a partnership with the players to get them better and make them be accountable and win hockey games.
"I've played a very aggressive style. A 2-1-2, going to the left wing lock. I assess our team and last year went into sort of a 1-1-3, which really clogged it up and gave our young defensemen, who are pretty mobile, an opportunity to get pucks out. They were never outnumbered... our goaltenders, also, they're not to take a lot of shots, because they weren't stopping a lot early. So we adjust. I look at every team and I try to use their assets, what they really bring to the groups.
Of being asked this general question several times before, Trotz added, "What I say if you ask me that is 'you don't know Barry Trotz very well' because I'm pretty adaptable and I try to use the assets that are given."
On how he views trusting young players in the lineup:
"I think every situation is different. I mean, obviously Seth Jones is on our hockey team. He's a 19-year-old.
"I think what I try to do with young players is put them in a position where they can be successful. Sometimes you put young players in too high a position and therefore they don't have a lot of production and you're not winning. Therefore they start to lose confidence. I think what you try to do with your young players is balance that confidence. Put them in sort of the right seat on the bus, so they can have success.
"A good example of that would be in Colorado. Nathan MacKinnon started on the third line. There was no expectations for him to score. They just wanted him to become a good NHL player. As the season went on he grew and now he's playing in their top six.
"I think we're in a society we want all our young players to be stars right out of the gate and this is a good league. It's the best league in the world and it's a man's league. You look at the Detroit model, for instance. Detroit's Gustav Nyquist. You know, Detroit did it right. They let him play in the minors for a few years. He came up and he was able to produce and it was an easier transition. At the same time, he's also 26. He's not 19. And I know when I was 19 and when I was 26 I am totally different people.
"The player has to be ready physically and emotionally to play in the National Hockey League. Everybody has their own time frame and I don't think you can put a general statement of 'all young players should do X.' They're all different and they all have their own time frames."
Trotz mentioned the Predators have offered him a job within the organization if he wants to take a year off from coaching. His contract ends June 30.