When the Washington Capitals hired Barry Trotz to be their head coach prior to the 2014-15 season there were plenty of questions as to how he would be able to handle superstar winger Alex Ovechkin, how Ovechkin would play under Trotz's system, and whether or not the Capitals best and most expensive player was "coachable."
Through the first 61 games of the season, things seem to be working quite well for Trotz, Ovechkin and the entire team.
The Capitals are looking like one of the better teams in the Eastern Confeference and Ovechkin is still one of the best players in the league, entering Tuesday with a league-leading 38 goals and well on his way to not only another 50-goal season, but perhaps another goal-scoring crown and maybe even another MVP award.
On Tuesday, Trotz appeared on Sportsnet Fan 590 in Canada and discussed what it's been like working with Ovechkin, the thought process behind moving him back to the left side, and where things went wrong in the past with Ovechkin and the Capitals. During his nearly 10-minute interview Trotz seemed to question the Capitals' previous decision-making (coaches, most likely -- he did not name any names) when it came to how Ovechkin had been handled.
"There was some bad advice given to Ovi at times in how they wanted him to play," Trotz said. "Ovi is a guy who will do what you ask and that’s what I have found. He’s bluntly honest which is actually a strength, not a weakness."
You can listen to the entire segment here.
Along with the bad advice line, perhaps the best part of his segment was his response to a question about what he has done to make Ovechkin more "coachable."
"Not a lot," Trotz said in response to the question from host Darren Milliard. "I think it comes from the player. I think it’s a little bit of trust between the player and the staff.
"I made it pretty simple. Really, I wanted him to go back to the left side. I thought he was more dangerous there. I told him when you have the puck, I want you to do what you do. When you don’t have the puck I want you to do what I want you to do. If you do that, you will have the puck more. So it became pretty simple. Just having a plan to get the puck back when we didn’t, and he’s been great. He’s been a pleasure to work with. He’s been a real force physically. Obviously, he’s scoring a lot of goals and he’s bought in to some of the things about leadership. He’s in the right place with his life. There’s a lot of good things that he’s doing."
