Barry Trotz is the new head coach of the New York Islanders. Even if you grade him by “yes but he was in Nashville forever and couldn’t get them past the second round and then in D.C. he didn’t win it all until he was about to be...” there is ample, historical reason for every Islanders fan to be pretty excited right now.
Because, well, this isn’t the kind of hiring that hasn’t happened in a long, long while on the Island. Actually, it’s kind of never happened.
For perspective:
Every Islanders Head Coach Ranked by Total NHL Wins as of June 2018*
- Al Arbour - 782 (plus 123 playoff wins)
- Barry Trotz - 762 (plus 55 playoffs)
- Peter Laviolette - 571 (plus 73 playoffs)
- Jack Capuano - 227 (plus 10 playoffs)
- Ted Nolan - 187 (plus 6 playoffs)
- Terry Simpson - 159 (plus 11 playoffs)
- Mike Milbury - 143 (plus 22 playoffs)
- Rick Bowness - 123 (plus 8 playoffs)
- Lorne Henning - 87 (plus 2 playoff wins)
- Butch Goring - 83
- Steve Stirling - 56
- Brad Shaw - 18
- Bill Stewart - 11
- Phil Goyette - 6
- Earl Ingarfield - 6
*Includes wins with any NHL team in regular season, per hockey-reference.