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Trotz will still cheer for Preds ‘like crazy’

Barry Trotz

Nashville Predators head coach Barry Trotz answers questions at a news conference Monday, April 14, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. The Predators announced earlier in the day that Trotz’s contract won’t be extended and they will begin looking for a new head coach. Trotz is the only head coach the NHL hockey team has had. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

AP

Barry Trotz will try to steer the Washington Capitals to a Stanley Cup championship, but he hasn’t turned a blind eye to the Nashville Predators in the process. He continued to follow the team he coached for 15 years after they fired him in May and naturally has opinions on the moves they’ve made -- he’s just not sharing them.

What he is willing to make clear though is that the Predators are still important to him even as he makes a point to keep some distance between him and the team’s personnel.

"(Predators GM David Poile) and the people who are there will always be friends. But I think there needs to be some separation right now so everybody can come in there and be comfortable,” Trotz told the Tennessean. “I’ll be cheering like crazy for them because I want them to be successful.”

New Predators head coach Peter Laviolette will be tasked with bolstering the team’s offense after they averaged 2.61 goals per game in 2013-14. To help him do that, Poile acquired James Neal and signed Mike Ribeiro, Derek Roy, and Olli Jokinen. Meanwhile, Trotz will try to prove that he’s more than just a defensive-minded coach and he’s capable of getting the most out of Alex Ovechkin.

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