“You can always come home.”
Those are the words Bryan Trottier’s father said to him as a teenager during a bout of homesickness over Christmas as he struggled with the idea of returning to play junior hockey in Swift Current.
After being convinced by his parents and junior teammate and future NHL player Dave “Tiger” Williams, Trottier would return to Swift Current and go on to pursue one of the most illustrious careers in National Hockey League history. As a player, Trottier was a key figure in the New York Islanders dynasty that won four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983. He would add two more championships as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He won the Hart, Calder, Art Ross, Conn Smythe and King Clancy trophies while in New York. His 1,425 career points rank him 17th all-time in NHL history and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997.
These words of his father still resonate today with Trottier and inspired the title of his memoirs, All Roads Home: A Life On and Off the Ice.
“The main reason is that I’m not afraid to share my thoughts anymore,” Trottier told TSN of his decision to write a memoir with writer Stephen Brunt.
“I think that’s where I’m at in life in general, it’s wonderful to reflect and reminisce.”
Born and raised on a ranch in Val Marie, Saskatchewan, Trottier is half-Native and half-Irish. Early on, his parents taught him and his four siblings to be proud of their mixed heritage and that discrimination was a form of jealousy.
“We had the joys of all the culture and food [like] Bannock and venison and pheasant and all those wonderful meals that Grandma and Grandpa used to make and Mum was passionate about her Irish toddies and her crossword puzzles, and I loved it all,” Trottier said about of her childhood growing up with both cultures.
A big moment in Trottier’s adult life came in September 1994. Feeling like he had a bad flu with no energy, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with clinical depression. With the support of the Penguins, he completed a 10-day stay at a facility that helped him deal with self-esteem issues.
“The wonderful thing about mental wellness and seeking support, the tools, is recognizing that along the way there is a bit of forgiveness and you carry baggage when you don’t forgive yourself. don’t or don’t forgive others and that really helped,” Trottier said.
“The biggest thing I found was with my kids because they were my biggest joy, just having them, I just focus on that, I think that was probably my biggest help that I received, and they didn’t even realize it.”
Another key person in Trottier’s life was his former teammate and close friend Mike Bossy. Bossy, who died April 15 at age 65, played alongside Trottier in New York for 10 seasons, winning four Stanley Cups and scoring 573 goals in 752 career NHL games.
“Mike was a best friend, roommate, linemate,” Trottier said. “Ten years every day we were together and we couldn’t wait to be together. And that’s the kind of friend you need.
“It’s wonderful to have that kind of relationship with someone you play with and create magic with them every night. Mike is a special human being, he always will be. I miss him every day He has been an important factor in my life and my career.
Playing on the star-studded island dynasty among the likes of Bossy, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith and Clark Gillies, Trottier’s legacy in New York is well cemented. His number 19 is retired by the team and he holds the franchise records in points (1,353), assists (853) and plus-minus (+470).
Aside from the Stanley Cups, what Trottier enjoyed most about his NHL career was playing against the best players in the world.
“When I played against Darryl Sittler for example, he was my ultimate competitor,” said Trottier. “He was the guy who, when I played him, I learned it was a 60-minute game. That’s how you play hockey, every face-off is a battle, two sides of [ice], 60 minutes. I was exhausted and being alone with him was special.
“I think that’s kind of what I missed the most, what I enjoyed the most on a daily basis, the road to the Stanley Cup was kind of fun. These trips were particularly fun. But the annual night-to-night battles and the ensuing exhaustion, feeling overwhelmed, winning, losing or drawing, I gave it my all.
After hanging up his skates after the 1993-94 season, Trottier moved into full-time coaching after serving as a player-coach in his final NHL season with the Penguins. With assistant coaching stints in Pittsburgh, Colorado and Buffalo as well as a brief stint as head coach of the AHL’s New York Rangers and Portland Pirates, Trottier says the things he liked the most about coaching were the communication, the teaching, the skill development, the conditioning aspect and making sure the players were prepared.
Trottier remembers his time at Colorado in particular fondly, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2001 as an assistant coach. Although he says the veteran core of Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Adam Foote and Rob Blake were all a joy to coach, it’s a trio of youngsters at the time that hold a special place in Trottier’s memory. .
“We had three kids in Colorado – Alex Tanguay, Milan Hejduk and Chris Drury,” Trottier said. “I call them my three favorite players I’ve ever coached because they were young, they were impatient and when they took off, my god, we won a Stanley Cup and I thanked them afterwards because they were good students and they made me feel like I had contributed a lot to their success.
Now 66 and a grandfather, Trottier has spent time visiting First Nations communities and is grateful for the people who share their culture with him, be it music, drum dancing, food as well as invitations to go hunting and fishing.
“We go there with the message of follow a dream if you have a dream,” Trottier said of sharing his experiences with Indigenous youth. “You may leave home, you may be shy, you may be homesick, but you can always come home and bring back what you’ve learned to your community and that experience of chasing a dream, whether in music, art, sports or whatever.
“It’s been very rewarding in one way and then in another way, it’s just an experience I wouldn’t trade an education for.”
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