Barry Trotz switched from NHL coach to GM. It has been a success with Predators back in the playoffs

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Barry Trotz switched from NHL coach to GM. It has been a success with Predators back in the playoffs

2024-04-17 18:10 Last Updated At：22:30

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Barry Trotz never put a label on whether he was rebuilding, retooling or simply trying to reset the Nashville Predators during his first season as general manager.

Revival might be the best word to describe what he has done.

Not only has Trotz helped the Predators reclaim their “Smashville” identity, Nashville is back in the NHL playoffs a year after the franchise missed the postseason for the first time since the 2013-14 season. That was Trotz's last year as the only head coach the expansion team had ever known. His new stint with his old team has been a rousing success so far.

The Predators won't learn their first-round opponent until later this week. The postseason opens this weekend and it will be the ninth time in 10 seasons Nashville has reached the playoffs and 16th in the last 20.

“Smashville was the Coliseum, it was a place that you didn’t want to come in on a Saturday night and have to play the Predators because you’re just trying to get out, and I think we got away from that,“ Trotz said Tuesday.

Captain Roman Josi, who played his first three NHL seasons under Trotz, said it was awesome hearing that Trotz was returning as their new GM. Trotz took over for David Poile, who retired last summer as the NHL's longest-tenured and winningest general manager in league history.

Josi said he can't imagine it's easy to switch from being coach to a general manager, yet believes Trotz has made an amazing transition after coaching Washington to the 2018 Stanley Cup championship and also coaching the New York Islanders before returning to Tennessee.

“A lot of credit to him for what he built,” Josi said. “And, obviously now being in the playoffs is pretty cool, right, and that was always his goal. He was clear on that, and it was always our goal.”

Some of Trotz's former players aren't surprised at all by his winning transition from coach to general manager. T.J. Oshie won the Stanley Cup with Trotz in 2018 and sees Trotz as knowing how to fit in a system.

“He’s a very big guy on character,” Oshie said. "You put together a room of a bunch guys with a lot of character, they’re going to do some pretty special things.”

Defenseman Karl Alzner played three seasons for Trotz in Washington and admits he didn't initially see him as a GM. Alzner said Trotz is such a thoughtful, genuine person that being a tough-skinned GM could be tough.

Being nice didn't stop Trotz from making the moves he felt were needed to recapture the identity he had helped build.

Trotz fired John Hynes as coach last May and replaced him with Andrew Brunette, the man who scored the first goal in Predators history. Trotz signed top two-way center and 2019 playoff MVP Ryan O’Reilly, rugged Cup-winning defenseman Luke Schenn and winger Gustav Nyquist.

He also traded Ryan Johansen and bought out Matt Duchene, making Nashville big winners in NHL free agency.

Nashville started the season slowly at 5-10-0 before climbing to .500. The Predators struggled after the All-Star Game, bottoming out with a 9-2 loss Feb. 15 on home ice to Dallas. Trotz canceled team plans to see U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas and the Preds then went 16-0-2.

Alzner said Trotz is like the quiet man in a room who gets everyone's attention when he speaks up or puts his foot down.

“Unfortunate that they got a concert canceled, but in the end everybody’s jobs are on the line, so you have to make the right choice,” Alzner said. "I guess it worked. He’s definitely not dumb. This guy knows what he’s doing.”

The franchise-record points streak for the Predators moved them firmly into the postseason chase. Better yet: After starting 14-15 on home ice, the Preds went 9-1-2 down the stretch for a 23-16-2 record in Nashville.

Fans responded, shaking the ice with the return of the standing ovation during stoppages in play.

Trotz said Nashville is a good hockey market with ownership that allows a more even playing field with other NHL teams. Re-establishing its rugged identity helped get fans reconnected with a team on the ice they could enjoy.

“We are in the in the entertainment business,” Trotz said. "So I wanted to have a team that was entertaining, but also a team that was not sitting back.”

And certainly not rebuilding.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Protesters take over Columbia University's Hamilton Hall in escalation of anti-war demonstrations

2024-04-30 15:46 Last Updated At：15:50

NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading the entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag out of a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war that have spread to college campuses nationwide.

Video footage showed protesters on Columbia's Manhattan campus locking arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carrying furniture and metal barricades to the building, one of several that was occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest on the campus. Posts on an Instagram page for protest organizers shortly after midnight urged people to protect the encampment and join them at Hamilton Hall.

“An autonomous group reclaimed Hind’s Hall, previously known as ”Hamilton Hall,” in honor Hind Rajab, a martyr murdered at the hands of the genocidal Israeli state at the age of six years old,” CU Apartheid Divest posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, early Tuesday.

The student radio station, WKCR-FM, broadcasted a play-by-play of the hall’s takeover – which occurred nearly 12 hours after Monday’s 2 p.m. deadline for the protesters to leave an encampment of around 120 tents or face suspension. Representatives for the university did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment early Tuesday.

In the X post, protestors said they planned to remain at the hall until the university conceded to the CUAD's three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.

Universities across the U.S. are grappling with how to clear out encampments as commencement ceremonies approach, with some continuing negotiations and others turning to force and ultimatums that have resulted in clashes with police. Dozens of people were arrested Monday during protests at universities in Texas, Utah and Virginia, while Columbia said hours before the takeover of Hamilton Hall that it had started suspending students.

Demonstrators are sparring over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll, and the number of arrests at campuses nationwide is approaching 1,000 as the final days of class wrap up. The outcry is forcing colleges to reckon with their financial ties to Israel, as well as their support for free speech. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

At the University of Texas at Austin, an attorney said at least 40 demonstrators were arrested Monday. The confrontation was an escalation on the 53,000-student campus in the state's capital, where more than 50 protesters were arrested last week.

Later Monday, dozens of officers in riot gear at the University of Utah sought to break up an encampment outside the university president’s office that went up in the afternoon. Police dragged students off by their hands and feet, snapping the poles holding up tents and zip-tying those who refused to disperse. Seventeen people were arrested. The university says it’s against code to camp overnight on school property and that the students were given several warnings to disperse before police were called in.

The plight of students who have been arrested has become a central part of protests, with the students and a growing number of faculty demanding amnesty for protesters. At issue is whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students through their adult lives.

The Texas protest and others — including in Canada and Europe — grew out of Columbia's early demonstrations that have continued. On Monday, student activists defied the 2 p.m. deadline to leave the encampment. Instead, hundreds of protesters remained. A handful of counter-demonstrators waved Israeli flags, and one held a sign reading, “Where are the anti-Hamas chants?”

While the university didn’t call police to roust the demonstrators, school spokesperson Ben Chang said suspensions had started but could provide few details. Protest organizers said they were not aware of any suspensions as of Monday evening.

Columbia’s handling of the demonstrations also has prompted federal complaints.

A class-action lawsuit on behalf of Jewish students alleges a breach of contract by Columbia, claiming the university failed to maintain a safe learning environment, despite policies and promises. It also challenges the move away from in-person classes and seeks quick court action requiring Columbia to provide security for the students.

Meanwhile, a legal group representing pro-Palestinian students is urging the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights office to investigate Columbia’s compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for how they have been treated.

A university spokesperson declined to comment on the complaints.

In a rare case, Northwestern University said it reached an agreement with students and faculty who represent the majority of protesters on its campus near Chicago. It allows peaceful demonstrations through the June 1 end of spring classes and in exchange, requires removal of all tents except one for aid, and restricts the demonstration area to allow only students, faculty and staff unless the university approves otherwise.

At the University of Southern California, organizers of a large encampment sat down with university President Carol Folt for about 90 minutes on Monday. Folt declined to discuss details but said she heard the concerns of protesters and talks would continue Tuesday.

USC sparked a controversy April 15 when officials refused to allow the valedictorian, who has publicly supported Palestinians, to make a commencement speech, citing nonspecific security concerns for their rare decision. Administrators then scrapped the keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M. Chu, who is an alumnus, and declined to award any honorary degrees.

The backlash, as well as Columbia's demonstrations, inspired the encampment and protests on campus last week week where 90 people were arrested by police in riot gear. The university has canceled its main graduation event.

Administrators elsewhere tried to salvage their commencements and several have ordered the clearing of encampments in recent days. When those efforts have failed, officials threatened discipline, including suspension, and possible arrest.

But students dug in their heels at other high-profile universities, with standoffs continuing at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale and others. Police in riot gear at Virginia Commonwealth University sought to break up an encampment there late Monday and clashed with protesters.

Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas, and Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Associated Press journalists around the country contributed to this report, including Hannah Schoenbaum, Sarah Brumfield, Stefanie Dazio, Christopher Weber, Carolyn Thompson, David Collins, Makiya Seminera and Corey Williams.