New York Islanders blames Barry Trotz for last year's struggles after his firing
In a shot at Management's bow, Anders Lee refuted the idea that the New York Islanders failed last year because of the players. This past season, the Islanders underperformed, a stark difference from the previous years since Barry Trotz took over coaching in Long Island.
There had been reports of tension between Mathew Barzal and Barry Trotz during the off-season, which allegedly led to Trotz being fired.
Captain Ander Lee, explained that the team is strongly knit and he believed other factors kept the team from being successful.
Our group is a strong group. We just didn't put it all together last year and I don't think it was a personnel issue. We had a lot going on that that kept us from performing the way we needed to. We didn't have time to stumble any further than we already had early on.
Barry Trotz had been with the Islanders for four seasons prior to being fired, as the Stanley Cup-winning coach had no issue finding a job after the Washington Capitals refused to pay him more after winning the ultimate prize.
So is Anders Lee statement about Barry Trotz? It sounds like he may have lost room early in the season, as their early start was a dismal 7-11-5 through 23 games, and their first home win was not until 2 months into the season.
Adding that he is looking for «a new voice,» Lamoriello said «what we need to do is get improvement out of our younger players and a more complete year out of some of our veterans than we did this year.»
In the long-run, was it Trotz's dedicated to his Trap-Game and lack of ability to adapt that led to him being fired?
He did win a cup playing safe and was successful in his first three-season in Long-Island, but this doesn't sound like a top-down decision after all this time.
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