Understandable that a personal record wasn’t the first thing Barry Trotz was thinking about.
But after everything, the Islanders coach was appreciative of the 5-4 shootout victory over the Senators on Tuesday night at the Coliseum that gave him career win No. 800, just the fourth coach in history to reach the milestone.
“That was the least [thing] on my mind,” Trotz said.
In his 20th year as a NHL head coach, Trotz joins Scotty Bowman (1,244), Joel Quenneville (890) and Ken Hitchcock (841) as the only coaches with 800 wins. It could have come as early as Friday against the Capitals, the team he coached to a Stanley Cup victory last season.