Winnipeg Jets Have Opportunity to Bring Barry Trotz Back Home
Back in mid-December when Paul Maurice resigned from his position as Winnipeg Jets head coach, fellow Jets White Out writer, Dan St. Joseph wrote an excellent article outlining three potential coaches for the Jets for the 2022-2023 season.
Dan featured Barry Trotz as one potential candidate for this upcoming season. Due to the fact that Trotz was under contract with the New York Islanders and reached back-to-back conference championships, I thought this was a longshot that the Jets would get a chance to get Trotz because under no circumstances could I see the Islanders firing him. Therefore, I suggested the Jets go after Trotz’s right-hand man, Lane Lambert.
But all of that changed today when the Islanders made an unexpected announcement regarding their coaching situation. The Islanders announced that they relieved Barry Trotz of his coaching duties.
The Winnipeg Jets have the opportunity to bring Barry Trotz back home to Winnipeg
As Dan mentioned in his piece, Trotz is from Dauphin, Manitoba. He finished out his junior career in Manitoba and played one year of college hockey at the University of Manitoba.
Trotz’s coaching career also started in Manitoba. From 1984 to 1985 he was an assistant coach for the University of Manitoba. Then during the two seasons after that, he was the general manager and head coach of the Dauphin Kings who are a junior team that competes in the Manitoba Junior league.
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The Jets have a chance to bring Trotz’s coaching career full circle to bring him back to Manitoba where he got his coaching start and where he is from.
Besides that reason above, Trotz is a proven head coach who fits what the Jets need. The two-time Jack Adams Award Winner and one-time Stanley Cup Champion may be the missing piece for the Jets.
Trotz’s tough to play against defensive systems and ability to get his teams to buy in may just be what the Jets need to turn themselves around and become contenders for next season and in the future.
We all saw what Trotz accomplished with the Capitals by leading them to a Stanley Cup and then he brought the Islanders from a mediocre team to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finalists. There is no doubt that he can do the same for the Jets and lead them to the Stanley Cup.
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Winnipeg Jets Fans: Should the Winnipeg Jets pursue Barry Trotz to be their next head coach? Leave your comments below!
