Titan veteran understands the importance of balancing hockey and studies
Acadie-Bathurst Titan defenceman Mark Trickett is keeping his options open.
In his final season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Baddeck, N.S. native knows education will play a key role in making sure he has something to fall back on if the sport he loves doesn’t turn out to be a viable career option.
“Obviously you need something to fall back on at the end of the day if hockey doesn’t work out,” said the 20-year-old. “I’d like to play hockey, obviously, but I also want to make sure I have schooling and I have a future in something other than hockey.”
Trickett said his parents always made sure school came first.
“It is just the way I was brought up,” he said. “Growing up mom and dad always told me if I didn’t get my homework done I wasn’t going to practice. School always came first. That is what was implemented throughout my life.”
Originally drafted 24th overall by the Prince Edward Island Rocket (now the Charlottetown Islanders) in the second round of the 2012 QMJHL entry draft, Trickett found himself traded to the Victoriaville Tigres midway through his rookie season. Half way through the following season he found himself on the move once again, this time to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
“Everywhere I’ve been the academic supervisors and the people who help us out have been great,” he said. “They are good to work with the coaches and the players to figure out time to make sure we are at school. We are doing school on the bus. We always get time to get it in, whether it is on the bus or whatever. It is hard sometimes to manage it, but I think everyone understands that it is very important and you are going to need it someday.”
Now in his third season taking university level courses, Trickett mastered the art of juggling school and hockey early on in his Major Junior career. Despite being traded midway through his rookie season, and moving provinces from Prince Edward Island to Quebec, he still managed to graduate high school with his friends at Baddeck Academy in Cape Breton on time in 2013.
“When I was in PEI I could go to the high school there and do my courses,” he said. “But then I got traded to Victoriaville. The teacher’s back home (in Baddeck) were really good. They sent me the work. I was in class, some days it would be through Skype or something, but I just wanted to make sure that I could graduate with my friends back home. I had lots of people back home who could help me (and) it worked out and I graduated on time.”
The Titan have always stressed the importance of education, and make sure players have plenty of options available to further their studies no matter what level of schooling they are at, or what language they speak.
“The younger English guys go to Bathurst High (School) and the younger French guys go to ESN (Ecole Secondaire Nepisiguit),” said Trickett. “There’s guys taking CEGEP distance, and there are a few of us taking online courses through UNB (the University of New Brunswick) and Acadia (University).
“Right now I’m taking an oceanography course through science at Acadia, and I just started a philosophy course through UNB.”
The son of an RCMP officer, Trickett still hasn’t decided which path he will take once his playing days are over, but following in his father’s footsteps is certainly an option he is seriously considering.
“My dad spent 30 years in (the RCMP),” he said. “All my family has been in it, my uncles, so it really interests me. I’ve kind of started the applying process now.
“I’m not really sure which direction I want to go but I just like to keep my doors open I guess.
“Ten years from now I (could) be involved in business somewhere. That kind of interests me. Or sciences. The (oceanography) course I’m doing now really interests me. Back home, living close to the water, just the ocean part of it, that really interests me so that is kind of why I took that.
“I’m not sure. I’m just kind of taking electives that I can use towards both fields.”
Trickett’s commitment to education earned him the team’s Scholastic Player of the Month honours for October. It was an award he said he was both honoured and surprised to receive.
“There’s a lot of guys I think that could have got it,” he said. “It was good to get it. It kind of boosted my confidence a bit.
“I have to work hard to achieve results. Some courses come easier than others. Courses like math and stuff, that doesn’t come easy, but I work hard at it and I get lots of help from people to help me through it.”
The fact that QMJHL team’s recognizes players for their scholastic achievements is a great motivating factor said Trickett.
“It kind of pushed me to work harder and I think it pushes the other guys to work harder too.
“There is good competitiveness in the room. Everyone has their marks at the front on a board. You walk in and you see your name and what you did on quizzes…and your marks. It is good. It keeps everyone honest and makes sure everyone is kind of on track.
“No one really has a problem going to class. I think we have a pretty mature group when it comes to that. Everyone knows there is a responsibility away from the rink – which is school.”
Titan head coach Mario Pouliot said Trickett is a hard worker both on the ice and in the classroom, and said that commitment makes him a natural leader on the team.
“First of all, he is a really good veteran,” said Pouliot. “He’s a really good person. I think he is responsible and he is mature and he is a real good example in the dressing room. (He is a) good student and (is) giving the example to our young players.
“What I like about him is his level of competitiveness. He is always working really hard. Every shift he leaves everything on the ice. He’s a good veteran and he…shows the example to our young players.”
On the ice, the Titan have started to string together some wins as of late. After struggling at the start of the season, Acadie-Bathurst had won six of their last 10 games heading into action on Nov. 20. Four of those wins were come-from-behind victories, including a 4-2 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Nov. 12 at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre in Bathurst where the Titan scored four straight goals after falling behind 2-0.
“There’s a lot of character in the room,” said Trickett, who has combined for 12 goals and 29 assists in 192 regular season games since breaking into the QMJHL . “(Against Halifax) we were down 2-1 going into the third period and there were no heads down. Everyone knew what was at stake. Especially at home we have a lot of confidence. We are trying to just keep moving forward and getting better every day.
“What you really see is a positive locker room. Guys come prepared every day. Everyone knows they are here to work and get better. That is what we really preached when we were down in the dumps a bit at the start of the year. We just needed to win a few and the ball would get rolling, get that mentality that we want to win every night, that we have a chance to win every night. Wins are going to come once that mentality is there.”
It’s that type of mentality that sets Trickett apart, on the ice and in the classroom, and is what will make him a success no matter what path he chooses once his final season in the ‘Q’ comes to an end next spring. It is also what will define his legacy to the Titan, and the rebuilding team’s young players for many years to come.
“Anything I can do to leave an impression on the younger guys when I’m gone,” said Trickett. “I’m just trying to leave a good impression on the guys and help them for the future.”
