I have not yet had a chance to weigh in on the recent relieving-of-duties of Barry Trotz. My initial reaction was that of shock, of course. I was pretty mad at President and GM Lou Lamoriello, and his press conference—full of non-answers, other than saying the decision was his own, as is typical of Lou—offered no comfort.
But as more information leaks out of the hockey insider underworld, it has become relatively clear that while Lou made this decision on his own, he did so probably in large part due to the conversations he had with his players over the past week.