In 1998, Barry Trotz was in his first year as head coach of the Nashville Predators when he had an epiphany.
At the outset of the season, Trotz gained a reputation for being a no-nonsense tough guy who would snap at his players when things weren’t going well.
That season, things rarely went well for the expansion Predators.
Quickly, Trotz came to understand that this method did less to encourage better play as it did demoralize his troops.
So, Trotz decided to change his ways, adopting a style that he says mirrors that of a business leader: “Players are owners in the clubs now … and my job is to get these 23 or 24 individual businesses to work together,” Trotz told The Globe and Mail’s Eric Duhatschek in 2012.