Lou Lamoriello speaks about his decision to fire Barry Trotz

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S. Harper
May 11, 2022 (1:40 PM)

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The New York Islanders had a very disappointing season to say the least. Last season they took the Tampa Bay Lightning to Game 7 of the Conference Finals before falling short. Their success last season gave the Islanders high hopes heading into the 2022 season. Unfortunately after a terrible start the season the Islanders found themselves 16 points out of the playoffs.

So it was clear changes were inevitable.

Barry Trotz joined the New York Islanders after coaching the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup in 2018. The Capitals would then make the shocking decision to not extend his contract and he would quickly find his next job for the Islanders. Trotz took the Islanders to back-to-back Conference Finals, so many naturally assumed Trotz would return.

Unfortunately for Trotz, Lou Lamoreillo had other ideas and terminated Trotz contract. Lamoreillo gave the following comments about his decision:

Did I consult with anyone on this decision? The answer is no. Did I speak to players on this decision? No. I would never even consider thinking of anything like that...

This decision is on the knowledge that I have, of the experiences I've had and going forward what I think and feel is best for this group to have success, This group of players needs a new voice. This is no way anything negative on Barry Trotz.

But some speculate something else might have happened behind the scenes.

I would rather not get into any of the reasons.

There have been rumblings this season that the relationship between Trotz, some of his players, and Lamoriello himself may have become rocky at certain points during the season. Whether or not that proved to be a significant contributing factor to the decision to fire Trotz today though, likely only Lamoriello himself knows the answer to that one.