"You're trying to win the Stanley Cup since you're 7 years old," Trotz said. "I got the opportunity to do it with a terrific organization and a terrific bunch of young men and athletes and I've become very close with them. They'll always be very special.
"It'll be awkward a little bit … I don't know if it's awkward; just a little bit weird because there's so many good memories. I'll get to see everybody from the trainers that you've been real good friends with and the coaching staff and the players. They've got only a couple of new guys; pretty well that whole team is back and they've got a tremendous hockey team. That's a tremendous group of young men and a good organization that I was proud to be a part of and do something great with. It'll be a little bit different. It probably will feel more normal because it's a game right here in my new hometown."
Trotz resigned as Capitals coach on June 18, less than two weeks after Washington defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final in five games. He was hired by the Islanders three days later.
New York lost the face of its franchise and captain, center John Tavares, to the Toronto Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent on July 1. It was an enormous blow that left many prognosticators believing the Islanders would finish the 2018-19 season at or near the bottom of the standings.
But Trotz has the Islanders believing. He has them playing within a system that preaches structure after they allowed 293 goals last season, the most in the NHL. Their win against the Hurricanes on Saturday, the 774th of Trotz's NHL coaching career, had the Islanders at 12-8-2, three points behind the Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
"The buy-in to the structure from our standpoint as players has been huge," defenseman Thomas Hickey said. "He's simplified a whole lot of things, just changed a little bit of the mindset. You can see why he's won a Stanley Cup and goes far every year."
Trotz has coached 1,546 NHL games. New York is his third stop; he was the first coach in Nashville Predators history and worked there 16 years (1998-2014) before moving to Washington prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.
He's enjoyed life on Long Island thus far, though he's still getting his new house in order.
"I'm still adjusting," Trotz said. "If I deviate from the rink or take the wrong train, I'm probably going to miss a game here. It takes some time. I've been focused just on the day to day stuff. My family just moved. We've got boxes … I hope the recycling people come by soon so I can open up my garage and take everything out.
"Everywhere we've gone, we've tried to make it home. The island, every day that goes by it gets more and more comfortable. It was no different than when I went to Washington. I've got to meet my neighbors. I've met a couple of my neighbors, but I haven't really sat down and had them over because we didn't have any furniture for a long time."
At the rink is where Trotz is most comfortable. It's where he's working to continue to move the Islanders in the right direction, to bring a franchise that once won four Stanley Cup championships in a row (1980-83) back to prominence.
So while he'll briefly be reminded of what he accomplished with the Capitals before the game on Monday, he's more interested in the outcome.
"We've just got to collect points," Trotz said. "To me, it's going to be fantastic to see some great people that I got an opportunity to work with for a long time. But we need points, plain and simple. The view doesn't change unless you're at the top."
