Hockey
Trotz To Washington
The move by the Canucks ownership to not only move Mike Gillis out but bring in Trevor Linden was right from the start.
Not only was it a marketing ploy, but the team and organization had to get someone involved that actually knew the game and from a fan’s perspective, that was the best move in probably the past 5-8 years.
So we see that Alain Vigneault is currently in the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so it was obvious that the problem with the Canucks, clearly wasn’t the Coach.
The moves that were or were not made by Gillis not only caused the team to miss out on post-season play, but quite possibly getting “key’ players in to help the struggling organization from the ground up.
Move out mild mannered Vigneault and bring in tough guy John Tortorella, that turned out to be mild mannered Clark Kent in disguise, wasn’t the right fit either!
Trevor brought in the person he thinks is the right fit for the future of the club and this move alone will clearly define his ability as a President of the hockey club.
When any team misses out on post-season play, everyone blames the Coach and right or wrong, it’s business by ownership.
Nashville moved out Barry Trotz and he was quickly snagged up by Washington and the Hurricanes fire Muller and his Assistants.
It was only a matter of time before Barry Trotz was named as the Head Coach of any club, but the Washington Capitals did it first
The first of the week it was made official and speculation was that the Capitals would hire either Predators assistant GM Paul Fenton or former Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero to take the position in the front office to do the off-ice roster.
To the surprise of some Trotz was named by the Capitals and the internal promotion of Brian MacLellan from assistant GM to GM.
MacLellan played 606 games in the NHL and has worked the past 13 seasons in Washington – first as a pro scout and then as George McPhee’s assistant.
Will the mix with Trotz and Ovechkin be a marriage made in Washington for a style of play the team will buy into, or will Ovechkin want a trade?
Is MacLellan the right guy to bring the proper change needed to the roster to get this once-promising contender back on track?
The Canucks are still without a bench boss and everyone is wondering if this will come prior to the draft or after.
Either way, it’s going to be an interesting off-season for Vancouver?