Bryan Trottier By Olin - Grade 6S

1 Table of Contents 1: Introduction…...………………………………………...………………………………………2 2: Early Life……...………………………………………………………………………………..3 3: Family…....……………………………………………………………………………………..4 4: Starting Hockey...……………………………………………………………………………....5 5: WHL Career….…...…………………………………………………………………………….6 6: The Draft……...………………………………………………………………………………...7 7: Awards and Records..…………………………………………………………………………..8 8: Years Played…...………………………………………………………………………………..9 9: Coaching…..……….………………………………………………………………………….10 10: Retirement……………………………………………………………………………...…….11 11: Stats…..….…………………………………………………………………………………...12 12: Conclusion…...………………………………………………………………………………13

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Introduction

Bryan Trottier, nicknamed “Trots”, is one of the best NHL players to ever live. Bryan was born in the 1950s and grew up in a small town, , . His big dream was to play with the local senior team. All his hard work and dedication helped him become the great hockey player he was known to be. He grew from a shy, small kid to be a record-breaker who won many Stanley Cups in his career as an NHL player and assistant coach. Bryan still holds many records and is ranked in the top 10 of many lists. Even though he has retired, he is still involved in hockey.

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Early Life

Bryan Trottier was born near . Bryan first started skating on the creek near his house when he was young. He had an idol who played hockey and won the . Bryan wanted to be just like his idol someday. Bryan liked math, art and singing with his dad’s band as he grew up.

Bryan Trottier was born in Val Marie, Saskatchewan on July 17th, 1956. Val Marie is located between Swift Current, Saskatchewan and the Montana Border. When Bryan was young, his dad would make an ice surface to skate on by chopping a beaver dam up with a machete. The water would then flow out and freeze to make a skating rink. Bryan thought he wouldn’t be good at skating from the frozen twigs and logs he had to skate on. Bryan wasn’t a very tough hockey player when he was young, he was shy and liked math, art and singing with his dad. Growing up in the 1960s, Bryan’s idol was Jean Béliveau. On TV, Bryan watched Jean raise the Stanley Cup in 1966 and wanted to do it too. His parents told him he could achieve his if he worked hard.

Val Marie is a village about 1 hour and 15 minutes away from Swift Current with a population of 137. Bryan spent a lot of time skating on the rink that his dad made for him. Bryan didn’t learn how to fight until he was older. He worked very hard to be like his idol, Jean Beliveau so one day, he could win the Stanley Cup.

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Family

Bryan was the second oldest among his four other siblings. All of his brothers were also good hockey players. His father, Buzz Trottier, was Metis and his mom, Marry Trottier, was Irish. Bryan currently has four children of his own now and is married.

Bryan had four siblings. Carol was the oldest, then Bryan, then Kathy, Monty, and Rocky. Bryan’s brother Rocky also loved hockey and played in the NHL for a year with the . Monty played in the CHL and AHL as well. Bryan married his wife, Jennifer, in the 1990s. Bryan has two daughters Lindsey and Tayler, as well as two sons Christian and Bryan Trottier Jr. His son Christian also plays hockey.

Rocky and Bryan were the most alike of the four siblings because they both played in the NHL and loved hockey. Bryan played in the NHL 18 seasons, as his brother only played 1. Bryan and both of his brothers played hockey at a high level of hockey. Christian now plays High School Hockey.

5

Starting Hockey

Bryan learned to skate on his dad’s makeshift skating rink and on the local creek. When he was young, he dreamed of playing on the local town team. He played minor hockey in his hometown. As he grew up, he started to play on more competitive teams in surrounding communities.

Bryan and his brothers spent a lot of time learning how to skate on the creek. Bryan would also sometimes skate on the Frenchman River to Val Marie which was 12 miles away from his house. His dream as a kid was to play for the Val Marie Mustangs, the local team. Bryan played minor hockey in Val Marie and for the Climax Midgets when he got older. He eventually played for the Swift Current AAA Legionnaires. At the age of 16, he started playing for the WHL team the .

Before Bryan played for the Legionnaires, he played for the Climax Midgets. After Bryan had played on the Legionnaires, he stayed in Swift Current and played for the Swift Current Broncos. Even though he skated over logs and twigs, Bryan still made it to the WHL. Although Bryan really wanted to play for the Val Marie Mustangs, he also really wanted to play for an NHL team.

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WHL Career

Bryan was drafted into the WHL and played for 3 years before being drafted into the NHL. He improved a lot each year and was in the playoffs each year. He was homesick for his family while living in Swift Current. Bryan never won the league in the WHL, but he was a great player. That is one of many reasons why he got drafted into the NHL.

Bryan was drafted by the Swift Current Broncos in 1972. He played with the Broncos for two seasons. In his first season, he was named Rookie of the Year. Bryan almost moved home because he was homesick, but his friend, Dave “Tiger” Williams convinced him to stay. He also taught him how to fight and to be tough on the ice. In his second year as a Bronco, he scored over 100 points. In his 3rd year with the Lethbridge Broncos, he scored 144 points and was named the Most Valuable Player in the WCHL. In his last year in the WHL, he was on Team Canada for the World Junior Hockey Championships and was named team MVP.

Bryan worked hard to improve each year he played for the Broncos. He earned more points each year of his WCHL career. In his last year as a Bronco, he was ranked second overall in scoring in the league. It was a good thing that convinced Bryan to stay and play hockey with the Broncos, or else he would never have been the great player he was.

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The Draft

Bryan was drafted to the NHL during his second season as a Swift Current Bronco. Bryan tried out and was on the . He won 4 Stanley Cups all on his original team. He was a hard worker and set a record in his first NHL season.

In 1974, Bryan was drafted 22nd overall in the NHL Amateur Draft to the New York Islanders. Bryan was 19 when he went to the tryout camp in 1975. The Islanders coach noticed how he would get a hit on every shift and how hard he worked. After tryouts, the coach said he should keep him around. In his first NHL season, he set a rookie record of 95 points and was named the NHL rookie of the year. Bryan played 18 seasons in the NHL.

The year he got drafted, he made the Islanders and played with them for 15 seasons. In his second game as an Islander, he had a hat trick and 5 points. In his first 11 games as an Islander, he got 20 points. He had a great hockey sense that was recognized by most fans and players.

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Awards And Records

Bryan held many records throughout his hockey career. He is in the Saskatchewan and Canadian . He is ranked in many of the top lists for the New York Islanders. He is one of the best players in Canadian history. In 2016, Bryan was named as one of Hockey’s 100 Greatest NHL Players.

Bryan won the Stanley Cup with seven different teams as a player and a coach. He was a player for the New York Islanders when they won 4 Stanley Cups from 1980 to the start of 1984. He also played for the when they won it in 1991 and 1992. He won the Stanley Cup again in 1991 as an assistant coach with the . He also played in nine NHL All-Star Games from 1976 to 1992. In 1976, he won the for the NHL’s Rookie of the year for his NHL rookie record of 95 points. In his 1978-1979 season, Bryan won the trophy for the League’s top scorer with 134 points. The same year, he won the for the NHL MVP. In his first year of winning the Stanley Cup, he won the as playoffs MVP. In 1989, he was awarded the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. Bryan was inducted into the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997 and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. He also holds the most points in history on the Islanders with 1425 points. He won each of the Islander’s Stanley Cups as a player.

Bryan has won many awards and has set many records. Bryan was able to play for team USA because his father was Metis, so he could get a US citizenship. He is one of the best players in Canada. At the end of his career, he was one of the best players to ever play hockey. He is the second-best player from Saskatchewan to play in the NHL, next to .

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Years Played

Bryan played a total of 21 hockey seasons. He played in many different leagues throughout his career. He played 3 years in the WCHL and 18 in the NHL. He played 15 seasons for the Islanders in the NHL, and 3 for another team that he retired on. He played 3 years in Internationals, 2 on team Canada, and 1 on team USA. His position was center for his whole career.

Bryan started his career playing in the WCHL for 3 years for the Swift Current and Lethbridge Broncos. In the NHL, he played a total of 18 years. He played for the New York Islanders 15 seasons from 1975 to 1990. He went to play with the Pittsburgh Penguins for 2 years. They won the Stanley Cup both years. The next year, Bryan started working for New York Islanders instead of playing. But the next year he went back to the Penguins as a player and assistant coach for 1 year. In 1994 he retired but continued as an assistant coach until 1997. He also played for Team Canada for 2 years, and 1 on team USA. His position was center because he was a good skater.

Bryan played many years and helped lead his teams to Stanley Cup wins. He was a leader on all the teams because he was calm and smart on the ice. Some say he was a better all-around player than . Bryan was able to play for both Team Canada and Team USA because he had the USA and Canadian citizenship.

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Coaching

Bryan coached many different teams throughout his hockey career. He coached in both the AHL and the NHL as head and assistant coaches. He won the Stanley Cup as an assistant coach with one of those teams. Bryan also tried head coaching, but it did not last long.

Bryan started coaching for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1993 while he was still playing. He returned to the team from the Islanders and both as a player and assistant coach. In 1994 he retired as a player but kept assistant coaching until 1997. Bryan then worked as the head coach for the AHL team, the Portland Pirates. He coached there for one season before taking a job as the assistant coach for the Colorado Avalanche in 1998. He helped coach there for 4 years. They won the Stanley Cup one of those years. In 2002, he was a head coach for the , although he got fired in the middle of the season. The last Stanley Cup he won was with the Avalanche, which was the seventh Cup he won. In 2014, Bryan was hired by the as an assistant coach for one year.

Bryan wasn’t just a great player, he was also a great assistant coach. Winning a Stanley Cup proves he trained the players well. Bryan taught some of his skills to the players because he wanted the players to be just like him. He tried being the head coach for the Rangers, but it didn’t last long.

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Retirement

Bryan retired as a player in 1994, but he continued to be involved in the game as an assistant coach until 2003. His number is retired on his original team in the NHL. He played roller hockey right before he retired from being a player. His last NHL team was the Pittsburgh Penguins, he had a great career.

He retired from being a hockey player in 1994 after he had won his 6 Stanley Cups as a player and one as an assistant coach. His number 19 is retired by the Islanders, so no players on the Islander’s team are allowed to wear his number. Even though Bryan is retired, he still holds many team records for the Islanders. Currently, he is listed as the 3rd best Islanders player of time in history; is the second-best, and the best player is . Bryan continues to be involved in the hockey community. He attended Hockey Day In Canada in Swift Current in January 2019. He also spends his time traveling across the country visiting various communities to teach kids about his aboriginal heritage.

Bryan is a hockey legend because of the 18 seasons he played. He is also one of the best to ever play from Saskatchewan. Even though he is retired from hockey, he is still involved in the hockey community. He has been involved since he retired.

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Stats

He played in the International league, in the WHL, and in the NHL. Not many people are even in the NHL, and it is very hard to get as many points as he had. He played a lot of games because he played for 21 seasons, 3 in the WHL, and 18 in the NHL. He only had a few hundred more points to be the only other player to reach 2000 points(the only player to reach 2000 points is Wayne Gretzky).

In the WHL he played a total of 202 games. In those 202 games, he earned 301 points, including 103 goals and 198 assists. He also had 189 minutes. In the NHL, he played 1279 games, where he earned 524 goals, 901 assists, and 912 penalty minutes. When he played at the International level, he played 13 games and had 5 goals, 11 assists, and 14 penalty minutes. Bryan holds many records within the Islanders club, including most games played, most points, most assists, plus a few more. He is still ranked in the top ten of many other records for the team.

Bryan had good stats, but he had a lot of penalty minutes. He got crushed in a few fights (he liked to fight), he got all his scars from that. When he played in the International tournament, he got a lot of points for only playing 3 years. Bryan has almost the most points in the NHL from Saskatchewan, behind Gordie Howe.

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14 Conclusion

Even though Bryan does not play anymore, he will still always be remembered as a hockey legend. Bryan was just a small-town Saskatchewan boy, but he was still able to follow his dreams by starting out on a little skating rink his dad made for him. Just like Jean Beliveau, Bryan lifted the Stanley Cup. He achieved his goal of playing in the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup. He still holds many records today with the Islanders and is ranked in the top ten in other NHL records. He worked hard throughout his career, and is now in the Hockey Hall of Fame and has his number 19 retired. Bryan definitely earned the title of 100 Greatest Players of the NHL.