Barry Trotz has become quite successful, but even after winning the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals last season and then inking a nice payday to coach the New York Islanders, he hasn’t forgotten where he’s from.
The first head coaching job of his career was with his hometown Dauphin Kings, a Junior A team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, and on Saturday, he showed up as a surprise to the players as they were preparing for a game against the Portage Terriers.
While much of the NHL was concentrated in San Jose for All-Star Weekend, Trotz decided to use his time off to visit home, and took the time to drop in on some local hockey players. Of course, the man is all business. Gotta get pucks in deep.
Dauphin is especially known for its Ukrainian population, and with the Kings celebrating their Ukrainian Night, Trotz bypassed the ceremonial puck drop to drop "kubassa," which is a Ukrainian sausage.
Speaking of returning to homes, Trotz recently visited the Capitals in his first game since leaving the team. Although he thought his tenure in Washington was too brief to merit a video tribute, there was of course little doubt that the Caps would show love to the first head coach in franchise history to lead the team to a Stanley Cup. It sure got Trotz emotional.
