Bryan Trottier

The Hall of Fame center for the NY Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins faces off

By Micheal Dolan

When the Oldtimers Hockey Challenge returns to Courtenay Jan. 25, one of the Legendary Hockey Heroes scheduled to appear is Hockey Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier.

Trotter was a modern-day player with old-fashioned attributes. At a time when specialists were beginning to take over from the all-round player, Trottier was a throwback. He was a defensively sound centreman with the vision and instincts of a pure scorer.

Over an 18-year National Hockey League career, he led his teams to the Stanley Cup six times, including four consecutive titles with the New York Islanders in the early 1980s. And his achievements went beyond team success. He won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, the Art Ross Trophy as top scorer and the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player. Trottier, at his retirement, was the league’s sixth-highest all-time scorer.

In 1974, however, the NHL was reacting to the threat of the World Hockey Association. The elder league held a semi-secret draft with an emphasis on underaged players – teenagers who were 17 and 18 years old. Trottier was chosen 22nd overall in the second round, and he was the ninth underaged player taken that year. He was a promising forward, but hardly anyone pegged him as a dominating player.

The New York Islanders, the team that selected him, even suggested he spend another year in junior, making him the only secret underaged player to wait to turn pro following that draft.

The Islanders offered to pay Trottier all the salary and bonuses he would have earned in the pro league – a strange arrangement for a young team in a rebuilding stage, but surely a vote of confidence that he appreciated and remembered. Still, that strategy would pay dividends for Trottier and the Islanders, not to mention Lethbridge, the WHL team he starred for in 1974-75. Trottier led that league with 98 assists and 144 points, earning MVP honours and confirming the wisdom of the decision to keep him in junior that extra year.

When the 1975-76 season began, Trottier was in the NHL, centering a line between Clark Gillies and Billy Harris. In his second game, he had a hat trick and five points. After 11 games, he had 20 points and word began to spread, especially after his rugged defensive work shut down opposing stars. Trottier finished the year with league records for a rookie in assists and points, breaking Marcel Dionne’s totals, and was an easy choice for the Calder Trophy as the top newcomer.

The rebuilding years for the Islanders were over in 1977-78, when Trottier and the team began to dominate the league. Trottier played most of the time with Mike Bossy on the right wing, a pure shooter who converted many of Trottier’s pinpoint passes, and Gillies on the left wing, a grinder who provided the brawn and much of the corner work necessary for success.

The line was the most dominant in the league since Phil Esposito had teamed with Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman for the Bruins earlier in the decade – a troika that was successful for many of the same reasons as the Islanders’ top guns.

Trottier was second to Guy Lafleur in the scoring race in 1978 and led the NHL with 77 assists. The next year he was unstoppable, using his playmaking skills to collect 87 assists and his tenaciousness around the net to record 47 goals. He was the league’s top scorer and took home the Hart Trophy as MVP.

In 1980 the Islanders won the Stanley Cup and Trottier was the star of the show, leading all playoff scorers with 29 points and earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most outstanding post-season performer. With Wayne Gretzky’s era still on the horizon, Trottier, the quiet guy from the Prairies, was considered the best centre in pro hockey.

Trottier played for Team Canada in the 1981 Canada Cup and led his Islanders to three more Stanley Cup wins to begin the new decade.

He scored 50 goals in 1981-82 and was again the top playoff scorer that season.

In 1984, with another Canada Cup on the schedule, Trottier stunned the hockey world by declaring that he would play for the United States instead of Canada.

Trottier was booed relentlessly yet Canadian fans cheered another recent citizen, Peter Stastny, the Czechoslovakian-born star who had quickly been made a Canadian prior to the tournament.

Trottier spent six more seasons in New York following the Canada Cup and saw his numbers steadily fall. He was still a dedicated and effective defensive player, however, and in 1990 the Pittsburgh Penguins signed the veteran to bolster their playoff chances.

Trottier was an important part of the Penguin team that won two straight titles after he joined the squad. Stars such as Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr attributed much of the team’s success to the aging star’s leadership, his drive and desire.

Trottier retired following the Penguins’ second Cup victory and spent one year in the Islanders’ front office.

But he was soon bored with his desk job and returned to the league as a player in 1993-94 at the age of 37.

He played 41 games with the Penguins while acting as an assistant coach, a job he continued after finally hanging up his skates at the end of that season.

Trottier remained with the Pens until 1997, at which time he took the coaching reins of the Portland Pirates of the AHL.

He returned to the NHL within a year, this time as an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche.

Trottier helped the Avs claim their second Stanley Cup championship in 2001, adding yet another ring to his already impressive haul. Trottier was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997.

The Oldtimers Hockey Challenge goes 7 p.m. at Comox Valley Sports Centre.

Tickets are at Happy’s Source for Sports.

– Oldtimers Hockey Challenge

What those younger hockey fans do know, however, is YouTube and there isn’t a more legendary puck video than a mic’d up Trottier and Kevin Stevens on the bench during the 1991 Stanley Cup final chirping Brian Bellows. And when we say chirping, we really mean chirping. Here’s the extremely NSFW video if you’re one of the few who haven’t seen it.

After the Pens/Caps alumni game this morning, we spoke with Trottier about reuniting with his old teammates, that YouTube video and where he would have loved to have played an outdoor game during his career.

Q. What did you think of how you played today?

TROTTIER: I felt really good leg-wise and as far as the excitement of it all. Hands weren’t where I wanted them, but I said to myself I’m not going to beat myself up about it, I’m just going to enjoy the day.

How did it feel to play again with Mario and some of your old teammates?

They were phenomenal, great guys. Everyone was cheering for each other really good with a little teasing here and there.

What did you think about the game ending in a tie and not going to a shootout?

These guys don’t know what a shootout is! [Laughs] It would have been great to go to a shootout, but time restrictions are what they are, but it’s fun to be part of the weekend. It wasn’t about who won, but about the atmosphere. Washington made all the effort to get up here and play against us and I think they deserve a lot of credit. I hope it was entertaining for the fans.

Are you aware at how big of a phenomenon the YouTube video of you and Kevin Stevens heckling Brian Bellows during the ‘91 Cup final has become?

It’s becoming more of a cult following, you know. It keeps you alive in the eyes of certain audience. It’s not one of the proudest moments, but you say to yourself it’s part of the game, no one takes it on the ice real serious. We all take our shots, we all get our shots.

Did that heckling of Bellow makes its on the ice as well?

It wasn’t just Brian, it was the whole team. They’re yelling at us, we’re yelling at them.

You have a prediction for the game tomorrow?

Well, you just hope the good guys win. It’s here in Pittsburgh, I’m sure the boys are gonna play hard. We live here, so we’re gonna root our little alums off for the hometown.

During your career, if you could have played an outdoor game anywhere, where would it be?

Man, I don’t know, that’s a great question. We had some really good rivalries with Philly and New York. Weather permitting it would have been great to play one of those teams where we had our best rivalries in our hey-day. Probably with a Canadian team you could take your pick up there. It would have been awesome to play an outdoor game up in Canada, you know, in front of the Canadian crowd. Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton … it would have been great anywhere.

Pittsburgh Penguins alumni Bryan Trottier talks about the upcoming alumni game.

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals aren’t the only ones who will play outdoors during the NHL’s Winter Classic weekend.

Hall of Famers Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey, Ron Francis and Bryan Trottier will suit up for a Penguins’ alumni team against a Washington alumni squad led by Peter Bondra.

Recently retired Bill Guerin will also suit up for the Pittsburgh team for the morning game at Heinz Field on New Year’s Eve.

“We all grew up playing on outdoor rinks, so we’re really looking forward to having this chance to skate on the Winter Classic rink at Heinz Field,” Lemieux said in a release Friday. “There is so much history between the Penguins and Capitals and it will be good to get together and see friends on both benches.”

The NHL teams will practise on the outdoor ice later in the day before their game on New Year’s Day.

Seating capacity for the alumni game will be 10,000. Full alumni rosters will be announced later this month.

TSN.CA Story

BEHIND THE NUMBER: #19

Islanders legend Bryan Trottier has his number hanging from the rafters. Find out why he picked 19

By Dyan LeBourdais

He was 18-years-old when he was drafted by the New York Islanders in the second round of the 1974 draft. A talented youngster from Val Marie, Saskatchewan, Bryan Trottier was about to embark on a wild Hall of Fame career that would feature six stanley cups, four with the dynasty Islanders teams. It is no wonder why 30 years after the Islanders first Stanley Cup victory, his legend, leadership and hockey skills are still the talk of Islanders fans.

Having transcended generations of fans, there’s no surprise Trottier’s Islanders sweater number was retired on Oct. 20, 2001. Of the six sweaters that hang from the Coliseum rafters, the story behind Trottier selecting “19″ for his jersey may one of the most anti-climactic.

When he came to Training Camp in 1975 and needed to decide what number to wear, Trottier turned down three of the numbers offered to him by then equipment manager Jim Packard.

“Number 19 was the lowest number of the jerseys was left,” Trottier said. “The other numbers were very high. They were up in the high twenties and thirties. I always thought to myself 19 was right because I was 19-years-old at the time and it just kind of seemed kind of appropriate.”

But his age has more significance than just his sweater number. In his first season with the Islanders, Trottier put up extremely impressive point totals, especially for a player at his age, starting the 1975-76 season. That season he played in 80 regular season games scoring 32 goals and 63 assists for 95 points and 21 penalty minutes.

Consequently, Trottier only realized the number 19 was more appropriate and fitting after the fact because he started to realize all of the talented players with whom he shared his number.

“I tried to think of all the great players who wore number 19, like Paul Henderson who scored the biggest goal in Canadian history to beat the Russians,” Trottier said. “That was kind of cool for me. I was like, ‘yeah, all right! Number 19 has significance for me there.’”

“And you look and you say to yourself, ‘Well, (John) Pie McKenzie of the Boston Bruins wears sweater number 19,’ and I loved the Bruins in the early ‘70s,” Trottier continued. “So just thinking of all the different 19’s like Jean Ratelle and those players that played in the league for a long time that were identified by their numbers. That was very, very cool.”

More than 26 years after choosing sweater number 19 because he was a 19-year-old kid trying to start a career, Trottier became the sixth Islander to see his jersey retired by the Islanders on Oct. 20, 2001.

“Having my number retired was very, very special because it was a big part of my identity here for the last 30 or 40 years,” Trottier said. “On top of that, to share that evening with the Long Island fans was really, really special.”

“I think for me, those years with the Islanders are such a huge part of my life,” Trottier continued. “To see my sweater up there in the rafters, it carries the history of the years that I was here. It represents, hopefully, a real positive legacy for Islanders fans and something generations of Long Island families will be able to share with one another. So it’s pretty special.”

While he was the last player to have his number retired, having his number retired more than seven years after his departure from the Islanders was very important to Trottier.

“It was a great time in my life to retire my number because my kids were all older and to share it with my children and my family and the fans, it was just a really special, special night. At the time you’re not emotional because you’re really kind of absorbing it, but it took me a little while to get over it because you’re so overwhelmed.”

Since the Islanders inception in 1972, Craig Cameron was the only other player to wear sweater number 19. Cameron joined the team via the1972 Expansion Draft by way of the Minnesota North Stars. In his three seasons with the Islanders, he played in 187 games, scoring 35 goals and 34 assists for 69 points and 65 penalty minutes.

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Quite a humbling honor when it happens. ( To be the recipient of the Conn Smythe Trophy, aka CST, in 1980.)

At that moment, I was so amazed and so excited and yet so honoured to be selected as the playoff MVP because many of my Islander teammates were MVP’s in my mind….all the players had performed so well against such strong opposition LA Kings, Boston Buffalo and Philly. Key goals or plays or saves, it could have been any one of the group.

Somehow, there I was, feeling this incredable Stanley Cup champion joy and then this added bonus, “On national TV being presented the playoff mvp trophy”. Wow! .me??? Really??? Amazing!”

I hoped my Mom and Dad were watching… And they were…I called to share all the excitement.

I remember holding the Conn Smythe Trophy for like an hour and walking around with it…protecting it as if it was fragile and irreplaceable…how perfect it resembled maple leaf gardens, the polish and shine that seems synonimous with the HHOF, what it historically represented with all the previous CST winners names aglow on individual name plates….Lord Stanley’s time took a short back seat while I had my time with Conn Smythe.

It was quite historical… We had just won out teams first ever Stanley Cup… for our fans and ownership and management it was our franchises first ever Stanley Cup… and for a lot of us it was our first ever stanley cup as a player… Then to be chosen as the MVP of the playoffs, I almost still don’t believe it…
a very unique and special feeling because as I reflect, somehow I end up as one of 3 players ever to have won the Conn Smythe, Hart, Ross and Calder….my kids get a big kick out of this!

I knew the name Conn Smythe and some of the history surrounding his ownership/directorship of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens…Wikapedia today is a quick hit and much better up to date history of stuff I didn’t know about his life and how he came to purchase the St Pat’s and changed the name to the Toronto Maple Leafs and changed the colors of the team from green and white to the blue and white they are today reflecting the colors of his truck and gravel business…the building of Maple Leaf Gardens on Carlton Street.. Quite an impressive hockey legacy…a terrific blend of business savy and passion for sport…

In the years 1973 and ‘74 the World Hockey Association was signing what was then “underage” players and grabbing talent before the NHL could draft and sign them at 20 years of age…

I was 17 years old and had just finished my 2nd year of major Junior Hockey for the Swift Current Broncos. I finished the year with over 100 points and was approached by the WHA Cincinnati Stingers that spring to sign a $500,000, 10-year deal that would pay me 50k a year…WOW!

My Dad (Buzz) called his local attorney and they found Montreal agent Dave Schatia and the three formed a strategy.

Wait!

The NHL was going to pass a new by-law that would allow them to draft players turning 18 years of age prior to December 31 1974….being born July 17, 1956 put me in the group of underage draftables!

There was no TV or grandiose hoopla surrounding the draft that year…Everything was going to be done by telephone AKA “The Secret Draft”…a special draft that was going to compete with the World Hockey Associations business of grabbing players two years ahead of the NHL draft age of 20…

Part of our strategy was “if” I got selected in the June 1974 NHL draft, then I would have some bargaining power between the WHA Stingers and whatever team drafted me in the NHL.

“If” I got drafted…  ???…

The way I understood it too, the NHL must pick all underage players in either the first or second round. Cincinnati then dropped the ultimatum that I had to sign immediately or they would take the deal off the table.

Uh-Oh! Was I taking too big a risk waiting? “What if’s” started running through my mind…my bargaining chip was gone…the $500k Stinger contract was gone…I might not even get drafted!!

Draft day I was up early. I listened to the radio and sat by the phone awaiting any news…Saskatchewan was two hours behind Montreal.  I’m nervous, excited, unsure, anticipating…who will call me? My agent? The team? The NHL office? Or possibly, Nobody? (Yikes)

I was alone in the house when the phone rang around 11 am. Dad had work to do…Mom (Mary) started gardening and brothers and sisters were oblivious and apathetic scurrying about doing odd jobs that kids do on a ranch. It was late Spring and it gets busy early in this little farming cowboy land of Val Marie.

There were chores to do and I was answering the phone that would change my life forever…voice said “Ott Erickson New York Islanders, please hold for Bill Torrey.”

My mouth went dry and I think I muttered “uh-huh”…

“Come on Bryan” I thought to myself “Be polite, respectful…its first impression time” Mom and Dad said you can only make a first impression once and this was one of those times…

“Bryan? It’s Bill Torrey. Welcome to the New York Islanders. You were selected 22nd overall. Congratulations! My secretary, Jeannie Boyle will be contacting you next week with flight information to Montreal. I’ll see you then.”

“Thank you sir. Yes, Mr Torrey,” I managed to somehow say without blurting or stammering.

“Call me Bill. See you next week. G’bye! And oh yeah, Bryan I look forward to meeting your Mom and Dad. Can you bring them with you next week?”

“I’m sure they would like that a lot Bill,” I thanked him again, we exchanged goodbyes and I hung up the phone.

As I walked outside and mounted the tractor hitched to the bale picker, I wondered how am I suppose to celebrate this? Who do I tell? What else happened today at the draft? I’ll call Tiger (Williams) later…got work to do right now…

All afternoon I’m thinking, “Man oh man, I have a chance to play in the NHL with the expansion team from Long Island. I have to check them out in hockey news…who’s on their roster? Who are their Centermen? Wonder if I can make it right away? What’s next? Will Cincinnati still be around? Maybe the Islanders will offer a better deal? Dad and Mom will know hopefully.”

Later that day I shared the phone call with Mom and Dad and like me, the questions came pouring out…we were all so excited.

Dad started planning the next few days work load for us to ready for the trip. Mom was smiling her “mother’s smile” that made me beam with pride every time I sort of did something good or right.

All was good that day. No hoopla! no bright lights! no interviews!

Just a life changing phone call, my moms smile and a list of chores to do from Dad. Wouldn’t change a thing!