Perhaps no move more aptly explains the volatility of the coaching carousel over the last several years in New York sports quite like Monday’s firing of Barry Trotz by the Islanders.
Consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference Finals the previous two years weren’t enough to shield Trotz — a former Stanley Cup-winning coach with the Capitals — from Lou Lamoriello’s ax following the Isles’ disappointing postseason whiff this season. (Yes, I know, the 13-game road trip to start the season, the COVID outbreak, the injuries, etc.)
With Trotz’s ousting after three playoff appearances in four seasons on (not in!) Long Island, only one of the dozen professional coaching jobs in the metro New York/New Jersey area — limiting this for now to MLB, the NFL, the NHL, the NBA, the WNBA and MLS — was filled ahead of the 2020s.
That distinction belongs to Yankees skipper Aaron Boone, who was hired as Joe Girardi’s successor in December 2017. Bronx-based backers have been impatient and critical at times with zero World Series trips under Boone over his first four-plus seasons, but his 348-226 regular-season record — after Monday’s 1-0 win over the Rangers — leaves him third in franchise history in winning percentage (.606) among those who’ve managed at least 500 games. Boone still trails Joe McCarthy (.627) and Casey Stengel (.623), but he is slightly ahead of Joe Torre (.605), Miller Huggins (.594) and Billy Martin (.591).