Scott Trask is a smart young man. He earned a business degree from Acadia University, where he fashioned a grade-point average that helped make him an academic all-Canadian when he played for the Axemen.
You can bet he’s counted bodies, added up the number of players with contracts and figured the odds.
He knows he’s in tough at the Newfoundland Growlers’ training camp.
But the 25-year-old forward from Bonavista, who is participating in the ECHL team’s inaugural workouts as a tryout player, is someone whose always tried hard. In fact, his resolve and work ethic may have had the greatest say in how far he’s come in hockey.
Odds or not, contract or not, flashy stats or not, Scott Trask has to give it a shot.
He knows no other way.
It’s that sort of attitude that had Trask on the ice at the Glacier in Mount Pearl Monday for the Growlers’ first-ever on-ice session.
He asked for the tryout, reaching out to head coach and fellow Newfoundlander Ryane Clowe a couple of months ago. He knew Clowe a little from a couple of off-season skates in St. John’s, but wasn’t citing that small relationship or his birth certificate as being reasons why Clowe and the Growlers should bring him to camp.
He was counting on his reputation as an honest player and good teammate, something he continued to build on last winter during his first season as a pro, with the Huntsville Havoc, the defending champions of the Southern Professional Hockey League.
“Maybe at some point, I’ll realize that, hey, maybe it’s time to start a real life. But I’m not there yet.”
Scott Trask
“My (offensive) numbers have never been great, and that always makes it harder to get a spot,” said the 6-0, 210-pound Trask, who had eight goals, nine assists, a plus-four rating and 180 penalty minutes in 52 games with the Havoc.
“I think you have to see me play,” he continued, before acceding to a request for a self-scouting report.
“I’d say a hard-working guy who plays an honest two-way game. Obviously, I’d like to contribute more offensively, but I work hard in the defensive zone and bring energy on the ice, finishing my hits, picking up for teammates.”
The latter played a part in some of the half-dozen fights he had with Havoc, much to the delight of northern Alabama hockey fans.
“It’s a great spot to play. I was surprised at first,” he said about Huntsville. “We’d get 6,500 a game and they love hockey down there … and they love the rough stuff.
“I think with the Nashville Predators having had success, it’s helped with bringing fans to the game in the southern states. They’ve really take to it.”
He’s already agreed to terms of another contract with the Havoc, meaning he could be back down south if he can’t crack the Growlers’ roster.
Wherever he is, it’s not likely he’ll be making anything close to the money he could earn if he took a job based on his university degree.
“Yeah, I know,” he agreed. “My girlfriend always gives me a hard time with this one. But I don’t feel like I’m finished with hockey yet or maybe that it’s not finished with me.
“And I really wanted to get to an East Coast camp this year, to test myself. There’s the competitive native that means I want to see how far I can go.
“That other stuff is always in the back of your mind, but everyone keeps telling me ‘Do this as long as you can. You won’t get many chances.’
“Maybe at some point, I’ll realize that, hey, maybe it’s time to start a real life. But I’m not there yet.”
There are 23 players in the Growlers’ camp, with a couple or a few more likely to come down from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Trask is one of four on tryouts.
ECHL teams carry 20-man active rosters and dress 18 players each night, and in most cases just 10 forwards. That could work against Trask, too, but the regular season doesn’t start for 10 days, giving him time to do what he’s done best over the years — in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Moncton Wildcats, at Acadia and at Huntsville — which is to win coaches over.
As he pointed out, his scoring numbers are far from eye-popping. He had 14 goals and 32 points in 174 QMJHL games with Moncton and five goals and 15 points in 84 contests with Acadia.
But here’s something that can’t be put down to coincidence, facts that shouldn’t be ignored:
Trask has been a part of a championship team at every level since he graduated from the major midget TriPen Frost almost a decade ago. There was a QMJHL Presidents Cup in 2010, an AUS championship in 2014 and an SPHL crown with the Havoc last season.
Oh yes, there’s also a Maritime Hockey League title in 2013 when he spent his overage junior year with the Summerside Western Capitals.
But most of the time, he’s never been considered a pre-season roster shoo-in, meaning he’s learned to play with an edge. That means he can’t allow himself to be too comfortable, although there was some comfort in knowing there are four other Newfoundlanders — defencemen James Melindy and Adam Pardy, and forwards Zach O’Brien and Marcus Power, all contracted players — in the Growlers’ camp.
“Melindy’s a great friend. We played together at Moncton,” said Trask. “And we have the same trainer here in St. John’s, Ryan Power.
“I know Zach O’Brien and Marcus Power, too. And Adam also being from Bonavista, I know him and his family really well.
“It was nice to come in and have those guys here, I feel lucky, especially with Adam. He’s kind of taken me under his wing early on, helping me out.”
But Trask knows this will be a time for mostly self-help, always keeping in mind what he does best.
“I’m not going to be out there toe-dragging at the blueline,” he said laughing. “I’ll be keeping it simple.
“I had some good scoring numbers as a midget, but when I first got to Moncton … when I got to that level, at that point I had to realize what kind of role was going to be the best fit for me. “That’s where I sort of found my game and to be honest, I enjoy playing that way.
“I was told when I came here: ‘Do what you do.’ So that’s how I will approach it and we’ll see what happens.
“If it doesn’t get me a job here, it might open up eyes of other ECHL teams … put you on the radar. And there’s the experience itself. That’s valuable, too.
“I’ll make the most of it,” said the try-out player who will always mostly be about the try.
Training camp continues at the Glacier today and Wednesday, when the Growlers will travel west for exhibition games against the Brampton Beast in Stephenville (Thursday), Deer Lake (Friday) and Clarenville (Sunday, Oct. 7).
Twitter: @telybrendan
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