Recovers To Lead DU In Scoring
From: The Clarion(DU Student Newspaper)
by Brooks Kirchheimer
(left) Boone supervised much of Brook Trotter's physical therapy and recovery (click photo to enlarge)
The black puck was hit to the opposite end of the glassy ice when then-freshman Brock Trotter swiftly skated down to fore check. As he approached the puck, he collided with the captain and defenseman of North Dakota, Matt Smaby. Trotter fell first and Smaby, instead of striking the ice, saw his skate and blade slide down the back of Trotter's leg.
Trotter tried to push himself up and return to action, but he quickly realized his leg was numb and blood was trickling down his now blood-stained white socks. UND goalie Jordan Parise saw the cut, the blood and the painful looking face on Trotter and quickly called over medical help.
Trotter woke up the next morning in a Grand Forks hospital following surgery. He would soon hear the devastating news. He would be out for the season with a severed right Achilles tendon.
Not only was it a learning experience for Trotter, but for the doctors too.
"They said there was no way I would be playing this year. The doctors had never really seen an Achilles torn by a skate before. We just went one step at a time with rehab," said Trotter.
Just like that, just five games into what figured to be a very promising freshman season, was done, finished, over. In just four full games, Trotter had been named WCHA rookie of the week for scoring three goals and dishing off two assists.
No doubt while he was lying in the hospital bed hockey was in the forefront of his head. "Hopefully I will be able to play hockey again was the first thing. You never really know the extent to the injury until you get diagnosed by one of the doctors, I was trying to stay positive and go from there," Trotter said.
Trotter's hockey career started at the age of two in Brandon, Manitoba, when he would skate around the pond in his backyard.
"All my older brothers started playing, so I just kind of was brought up with it. I had an ice rink right in my backyard so hockey was just kind of always a part of my life growing up, I guess."
A part of his life that would grow stronger year by year and lead to a very successful junior hockey career. He would play for the Lincoln Stars of the U.S. hockey League in the 2004-05 season and score 22 goals and 41 assists for 63 points in 64 games.
It was in junior hockey when Steve Miller and the rest of the DU coaching staff first started to recruit Trotter, who they would later sign.
"I choose DU because they were looking at me from the get-go. They were the first team that really contacted me. The way they conducted themselves and how well the program was doing was a good situation for me to come into."
Trotter knew that college hockey, especially in the WCHA was no piece of cake and that he would have to work hard.
"I wasn't really sure what to expect, I knew it was going to be a much faster pace than juniors. Each step you go up, you just got to be ready to be better every year, just come in and fit in with the guys and go from there. Just one step at a time."
If his first four games of his freshman campaign showed anything, he was climbing up those steps very quickly. Steps that he would have to take a break from because of the injury and sit back and watch his team perform for the remainder of the season.
"It definitely is not fun watching your own team play. You root for them and everything, but it is a lot different than being out on the ice. But it makes you think and you hope that something like this doesn't happen again," Trotter said.
The start to the season especially with Trotter's injury was no pretty sight and the ending would figure to be the same as DU would miss the NCAA playoffs after winning back-to-back NCAA Championships.
"It is never good to miss the playoffs like that, but it motivates you that much more to have a good off-season and come in the next season stronger."
It was a different off-season for Trotter because he had never experienced an injury of this magnitude before and lots of physical therapy and rehab would take up much of his spring quarter and summer.
Trotter tried to push himself up and return to action, but he quickly realized his leg was numb and blood was trickling down his now blood-stained white socks. UND goalie Jordan Parise saw the cut, the blood and the painful looking face on Trotter and quickly called over medical help.
Trotter woke up the next morning in a Grand Forks hospital following surgery. He would soon hear the devastating news. He would be out for the season with a severed right Achilles tendon.
Not only was it a learning experience for Trotter, but for the doctors too.
"They said there was no way I would be playing this year. The doctors had never really seen an Achilles torn by a skate before. We just went one step at a time with rehab," said Trotter.
Just like that, just five games into what figured to be a very promising freshman season, was done, finished, over. In just four full games, Trotter had been named WCHA rookie of the week for scoring three goals and dishing off two assists.
No doubt while he was lying in the hospital bed hockey was in the forefront of his head. "Hopefully I will be able to play hockey again was the first thing. You never really know the extent to the injury until you get diagnosed by one of the doctors, I was trying to stay positive and go from there," Trotter said.
Trotter's hockey career started at the age of two in Brandon, Manitoba, when he would skate around the pond in his backyard.
"All my older brothers started playing, so I just kind of was brought up with it. I had an ice rink right in my backyard so hockey was just kind of always a part of my life growing up, I guess."
A part of his life that would grow stronger year by year and lead to a very successful junior hockey career. He would play for the Lincoln Stars of the U.S. hockey League in the 2004-05 season and score 22 goals and 41 assists for 63 points in 64 games.
It was in junior hockey when Steve Miller and the rest of the DU coaching staff first started to recruit Trotter, who they would later sign.
"I choose DU because they were looking at me from the get-go. They were the first team that really contacted me. The way they conducted themselves and how well the program was doing was a good situation for me to come into."
Trotter knew that college hockey, especially in the WCHA was no piece of cake and that he would have to work hard.
"I wasn't really sure what to expect, I knew it was going to be a much faster pace than juniors. Each step you go up, you just got to be ready to be better every year, just come in and fit in with the guys and go from there. Just one step at a time."
If his first four games of his freshman campaign showed anything, he was climbing up those steps very quickly. Steps that he would have to take a break from because of the injury and sit back and watch his team perform for the remainder of the season.
"It definitely is not fun watching your own team play. You root for them and everything, but it is a lot different than being out on the ice. But it makes you think and you hope that something like this doesn't happen again," Trotter said.
The start to the season especially with Trotter's injury was no pretty sight and the ending would figure to be the same as DU would miss the NCAA playoffs after winning back-to-back NCAA Championships.
"It is never good to miss the playoffs like that, but it motivates you that much more to have a good off-season and come in the next season stronger."
It was a different off-season for Trotter because he had never experienced an injury of this magnitude before and lots of physical therapy and rehab would take up much of his spring quarter and summer.
"While I was injured I would still do upper body workouts and keep in shape as much as I could and once I could move around on my leg, two hours a day of rehab and get the mobility back into it and then just strengthen it. It feels really good now."
It would be no easy return to the ice for Trotter, who after months of not skating or even hitting a puck for that matter would need a few games to warm up.
"Just getting back into the game, you don't really get your speed back for a while. Being sidelined for so long it is tough to get the pace of the game back. You can practice all you want but there is nothing that can prepare you for being out there in the game, I just got more confidence with each game and just started playing how I used to."
After scoring two goals and dishing out five assists in his first six games, the red-shirt freshman would go on to lead the team in points for the season with 40, second in goals with 16 and also second in assists with 26 playing in all 40 games.
"I don't know if it was surprising. I didn't really know what to expect this year. I was happy with the outcome, but it would have been nicer if our team went deeper in the playoffs. I definitely think it was a good season."
It was good season that he has many reasons to be grateful for after suffering such an intense injury.
"We didn't know how severe it was going to be or how the rehab was going to go. It was always in the back of my mind, its all part of life and just be grateful for what you have and don't complain and do it as long as you can."
It was a past couple years for Trotter that saw some big ups and some big downs, but now he is back on that ladder and will continue to take it one step at a time.
It would be no easy return to the ice for Trotter, who after months of not skating or even hitting a puck for that matter would need a few games to warm up.
"Just getting back into the game, you don't really get your speed back for a while. Being sidelined for so long it is tough to get the pace of the game back. You can practice all you want but there is nothing that can prepare you for being out there in the game, I just got more confidence with each game and just started playing how I used to."
After scoring two goals and dishing out five assists in his first six games, the red-shirt freshman would go on to lead the team in points for the season with 40, second in goals with 16 and also second in assists with 26 playing in all 40 games.
"I don't know if it was surprising. I didn't really know what to expect this year. I was happy with the outcome, but it would have been nicer if our team went deeper in the playoffs. I definitely think it was a good season."
It was good season that he has many reasons to be grateful for after suffering such an intense injury.
"We didn't know how severe it was going to be or how the rehab was going to go. It was always in the back of my mind, its all part of life and just be grateful for what you have and don't complain and do it as long as you can."
It was a past couple years for Trotter that saw some big ups and some big downs, but now he is back on that ladder and will continue to take it one step at a time.
1 comment:
It was great to see Brock come back this year after his injury. I remember watching when they took him off the ice after he was injured at UND. I really thought his hockey career was over when that happened. I'm glad I was wrong!!
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