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“There will be a video tribute to Coach Trotz during the game, and very well deserved, obviously,” Reirden told the Sports Junkies on Wednesday. “You can’t say enough about Barry and the impact that he had as the head coach. I wouldn’t be here in this organization if it wasn’t for Barry, so I have a ton of respect for him."
Trotz left on icy terms just weeks after celebrating the Stanley Cup victory, a shocking move at the time, based on a contractual impasse with the team. He resigned and hit the open market, a move that the team could have blocked but chose not to.
He needed little time in finding a landing spot with the Islanders, who paid him closer to what Stanley Cup Champion coaches can command.
The players want to see Trotz have his moment as well. Holtby told the D.C. media: "It means a lot to us for them to get the right kind of treatment."
Trotz will also use the quick stop in Washington to say goodbye to a few key people. He was hired in New York just days after leaving Washington and just weeks before training camp began. He had little time to say goodbye to the friends he made within the organization over his years with the team.
"They all became very close. They have some wonderful people there," Trotz told the media. "To be able to say some goodbyes to people I never got a chance to – from that standpoint, it’ll be real nice."