Trotter's abreviated first season resulted in
a medical redshirt.
Key Statistics: Trotter
had arguably the most impressive five-game campaign
in college hockey last year, netting three goals, two
assists and one WCHA Rookie of the Week honor for the
Pioneers before a severed Achilles tendon in his right
leg ended his season on October 29.
What He Does: In what
his coaches now call a kind of “dress rehearsal”
for college hockey, Trotter skated on a line, and on
the power play, with Gabe Gauthier and J.D. Corbin early
last season. The rookie’s natural playmaking ability,
combined with talented linemates, meant instant success.
His second freshman season begins with and increased
role in the Denver offense and the promise of more good
things to come after the NCAA granted Trotter a medical
redshirt.
The Bigger Picture: From
the corner of his eye, Trotter saw North Dakota’s
Matt Smaby coming at him fast, he absorbed the crunching
hit into the end boards and fell to the ice. When he
tried to get up and instead fell into the back of the
net, that’s when Trotter knew there was trouble.
Then he saw the blood, and Sioux goalie Jordan Parise
waving frantically for a trainer. Just like that, Trotter’s
season was over. Now the two months in a wheelchair
and the six different casts are in the past, and Trotter
is back on the ice, convinced that the physical and
mental hurdles have been cleared. With the Pioneers
looking for new sources of offense (for lack of guys
named Carle, Stastny and Gauthier) this season, fans
in Denver are hopeful Trotter’s point-per-game
pace (he had 63 points in 64 games during his one season
in the USHL) wasn’t a fluke.
Denver head coach George Gwozdecky
on Trotter: "We saw him so briefly, but
even in that short time we saw him go from young, nervous
and not very confident to a guy that we could see would
do some really special things. I think it’s good
for him to see the challenges he went though. Those
are good things to learn from.”
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