Barry Trotz Biography

Barry Trotz (born July 15, 1962) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach. He is the head coach of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Washington Capitals and the former head coach of the NHL's Nashville Predators. He was previously the coach of the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Baltimore Skipjacks and Portland Pirates, with whom he won an AHL championship in 1994. That same year, he won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award, which is awarded to the outstanding coach in the AHL as voted upon by the AHL Broadcasters and Writers. On February 20, 2013, Lindy Ruff was fired by the Buffalo Sabres, making Trotz the longest-tenured head coach in the NHL. He was also the second-longest tenured coach in the four major North American professional leagues, behind only Gregg Popovich of the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs. On April 14, 2014, the Predators announced Trotz would not return for his 16th season as head coach. On May 26, 2014, Trotz was announced as the new head coach of the Capitals.