Brandon’s Clark and Trotter dominate Austria

Scoring goals for Brandon’s Andrew Clark have never been a problem.  The former Wheat King is now at the top of the scoring race in the EBEL league in Austria (the EBEL is considered to be one of the top 5 leagues in Europe).  After finishing his Wheat Kings career with 240 points he then went to get his degree from Acadia University and became CIS player of the year.  When he finished school Andrew then played in the ECHL and AHL and felt it was time to explore Europe.  This season he has an impressive 52 points in 32 games played to date and is number one in the league for the Innsbruck Sharks.

Brock Trotter’s path from playing in the MJHL at the age of 16 to Austria is vastly different from Clark. A NCAA standout for the University of Denver Trotter turned to pro after three seasons and signed as a free agent with the Montreal Canadiens.  Over the last 10 years Trotter has played for 13 clubs from the NHL – KHL – Finland – Sweden and now Austria.

Trotter is a partner in local Brandon restaurant Astoria Pizza and spent several months in the planning and organizing of the opening of that business.  Once it was complete, he started this hockey season a bit late but has been a force in Austria with the Dornbirn Bulldogs (about 90minutes south of Munich Germany).  Currently with 32 points in 22 games played Brock has been the hottest player in the league since he has arrived.

BDNMB had a chance to sit with both players following their game on December 28^th in Innsbruck Austria.

Safe to say this is a better way of life than a typical normal day to day job:
Brock – For sure this is what I meant to be.  Plus all my experience with hockey has helped with running a business with working as a team to attain one common goal.

Andrew – Yeah eventually the old 9 to 5 gig will come into play but it’s nice to wake up and have breakfast with my family and go to the rink and come home and spend the rest of the day with them.  I am not knocking anyone doing 9 to 5 but being able to do something I love and pay the bills is something special.

(Andrew Clark – Innsbruck Sharks #57)

Andrew is this difficult for your wife Brittany?
Personally, I think it’s hard she’s an only child and she loves to work so she finds it hard being away from that at the same time she enjoys being able to have the freedom to go downtown and leave Charlee with me.   When we go home in the summers, she is able to work, and I work out, so it works out well for us

Brittany, would you say that this has been a very cool experience?
The experience of living in Austria has been amazing – something I never dreamed. This year is our 3rd here in Austria and it came with the scariest moments of our lives when our baby (Charlee) at just 6 weeks old was hospitalized due to illness. I will forever be grateful for the medical knowledge and care Charlee received to save her life. Looking back at previous years in Austria we never imagined needing such medical care but now we can feel confident is sharing just how safe we feel living here – especially Innsbruck.

As for our now, every day normal life I remind myself to be humble and enjoy this time – simply going to a picturesque downtown for coffee is not even close to what I normally experience at home in the Tim Hortons drive through

Brittany Clark enjoying life in Austria

Brock you have battled through various injuries in your career and perhaps at the age of 31 turning 32 …. would you say you are in the best condition of your career now ?

Getting myself healthy and learning from lots of medical therapists to get my body back to peak performance was my focus.  I have had a decade of working with my body …. I switched a negative situation into something very positive.   I would like to thank Cross Fit Rocked and the Brandon Wheat Kings for my mini training camp before I came to Austria.

Brock Trotter – Dornbirn Bulldogs (#91)

Any tips Brock for the young guys and their families reading this?
Don’t rush any decisions I was lucky to be educated on NCAA and WHL and the NCAA is lesser known and gives yourself time to evolve.

Andrew Clark Bio
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/13598/andrew-clark

Marketing Video from Innsbruck
https://www.facebook.com/haifischbecken/videos/2122336128018046/

Brock Trotter Bio
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/11443/brock-trotter

European Hockey Salaries
http://2112hockeyagency.com/salary-expectations/