When a new coach takes over a team, they will try to instill their own way of doing things, their own culture. It can make for an interesting adjustment period and the Washington Capitals under Barry Trotz have been no exception.
But a sign of the change is how the Capitals now reportedly interact with NHL referees with Trotz in charge.
“Every hit, every ‘maybe’ call, everybody was whining about no call because they wanted to go on the power play,” Trotz told CSN Washington. “I’m like, ‘Just play. Let the referees do their job, we’ll do our job.’
“At the end of the day, if we do our job right we’ll be fine. It’s OK to get hit in this league and get bumped around once in a while. It’s ice hockey.”
You can understand why the Capitals would want to spend as much time as possible on the power play. Last season, they finished tied for top spot in the league along with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin scored 24 of his 51 goals with the man-advantage.
This year, with their new approach toward officials, the Capitals remain second in the league on the power play at 24.1 per cent.