SPORTS SCENE
FINDING STRENGTH IN THE STRUGGLE
THE BARRY TROTZ STORY BY CARTER BROOKS
T
he Washington Capitals are not Stanley Cup Champions by accident. Led by generational talent and prolific goal-scorer Alexander Ovechkin, rock solid netminder and Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby, and blue chip offensive defenceman and former World Junior champ John Carlson, the Capitals collected their first Stanley Cup in team history in mid-June of 2018. For Washington, the talent has always been there. However, the daunting task of finding a way to properly harness and utilize that dynamic offence once again fell squarely on the shoulders of longtime National Hockey League Head Coach Barry Trotz. Trotz — a 56-year-old product of Dauphin, MB — is no stranger to
30 SEVEN SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2018
winning, and is certainly no stranger to the Word. After spending 15 seasons at the helm of the Nashville Predators, the veteran coach picked up shop in D.C. where he saw exceptional levels of success with the Capitals — twice leading Washington to the Presidents’ Trophy (2015-16, 2016-17), while picking up the NHL’s Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year following the 2015-16 season, and ultimately collecting Lord Stanley’s Mug this past spring. However, winning hockey’s greatest prize wasn’t all Trotz’s doing. It was the coming together of the team at the perfect time. A team built on hard work and dedication, and an expressed devotion to the Word. As a big believer in the NHL’s chapel programs, Trotz stands firmly in the fact that “attending chapel is
extremely beneficial for both the player and the person”. Trotz — who demands the very best from his players night in and night out — understands that there sometimes is some ambiguity and uncertainty when hockey players think about attending chapel. In an interview with Stu Grimson — formerly an NHL enforcer and currently serving with Hockey Ministries International — Trotz reflected upon some of the misunderstandings surrounding chapel programs within the hockey community. “A chapel program is essential for a player,” Trotz said. “We are in a sport where you have to show strength. And a lot of times, people think that if you go to a chapel program — where we spend a lot of time talking about failures and weaknesses — that in doing so, it is looked upon as a weakness.”
