On Monday night, Barry Trots entered the room while Brock Nelson was preparing a drink before the game.
“Hey whats up?” Nelson remembered what he had said. “Is everyone ready to leave?”
There was very little time left until the start of the game. But it didn’t make much of a difference.
Five days later on the COVID-19 list, Trotz returned to the Island bench. After a 4-1 win over the Flyers, he came to the press conference on his own two feet.
“I had a lot of energy,” he said. “I don’t have much voice, but I have a lot of energy right now.”
When the reporter said they were happy to see him healthy, Trots volunteered: “I feel so good. I felt very good during COVID. I had to be sick with COVID all year. I felt great, I really did. I had no symptoms, nothing. I felt better than I had in a few months. ”
Trots did not take part in Monday morning’s skating, in which assistant coach Lane Lambert spoke to the media and said there was no update on the head coach’s status, but Trotz missed the protocol during the game.
Trotz had not coached the Islanders since Dec. 30, missing a New Year’s Day game to be with his family in Dauphin, Manitoba, after his mother’s death. He missed training for the next few days, then returned shortly before becoming infected with the virus.
“It felt like about a year ago,” Trots said of his last coaching career.
The players point out that they haven’t seen much difference with Lambert, who has been Trotz’s assistant for a long time, in managing the bench, but the head coach’s return has made a difference anyway.
“I think it’s very difficult without him,” Nelson said. “It simply came to our notice then. All the staff are working hard to unify the game plan. ”
There is no definite time yet for Ryan Pulok to return from injury. It had been more than nine weeks since he had suffered an injury to his lower back, with an initial diagnosis of four to six weeks.
“Obviously, it’s much closer than it was weeks, weeks, or months ago,” Trots said. “It will definitely be an update for us [when he returns]”.
The Islanders tried to switch lines, with Kiefer Bellows to the right of Met Barzal and Josh Bailey to the right of Nelson. Trots then said he didn’t like what the situation with Bellows in the first place looked like.
JG Pageau was 9-4 in Monday’s game.
Tuesday’s game at Flyers will only air on ESPN Plus.
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