Nashville is all in for former Predators coach Barry Trotz as Capitals return to Stanley Cup Final

Before this season, June 16, 1998, was the last time the Washington Capitals played in a playoff game later than the second round. They lost Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Detroit Red Wings, who won the Cup for a second year in a row.

Barely four months later on Oct. 10, Barry Trotz coached the Predators in the franchise's first NHL game. They lost 1-0 to the Florida Panthers. He also had never coached a team beyond the second round.

Now, after 20 years without so much as a Conference Final appearance, both the Capitals and Trotz are going to play for the Cup.

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In the 17 years Trotz was the head coach of the Predators, he endeared himself to fans and the Nashville community at large. He worked with local organizations like Best Buddies and provided residents no shortage of stories about being a genuinely good person. At the 2016 NHL All-Star Game — and really any time he comes back to town — Bridgestone Arena welcomed him back like an old family member.

So it comes as no surprise that fans, media members and Predators employees past and present sent out hearty congratulations to the former bench boss and are pulling for him — and the other Washington coaches with Nashville ties — to win a championship.

Other former coaches get love, too

Capitals assistant coach Lane Lambert used to lead the Predators' American Hockey League affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, before joining Trotz's staff in 2011. Legendary goaltending coach Mitch Korn helped develop Pekka Rinne, Tomas Vokoun and Chris Mason, not to mention Dominik Hasek and Grant Fuhr.

Lambert and Korn followed Trotz to Washington and weren't lost in the celebration.

The hot lap

The reason the Capitals won was definitely because Trotz was tapped to replace Alex Ovechkin as the person to take a full lap to start practice.