YORKTON - A familiar name in Canadian hockey will be inducted into the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame later this year.
Barry Trapp, who hails from Balcarres, has really done it all in hockey, with nearly 60 years involved from player to coach to scout, and now hall of fame inductee in his home province.
Actually it was total surprise and shock,” the man widely known as ‘Trapper’ told Yorkton This Week in a recent interview. “To me it’s an unbelievable honour.”
It started as a defenceman for Trapp, his playing days seeing him spend time in a bunch of leagues including the Melville Millionaires in the 1959-1960 campaign, and then in the WHL, AHL and CPHL.
As a player Trapp almost made the NHL, a try out with the storied Toronto Maple Leafs.
It was while at Leaf camp Trapp said he came to recognize how important his father was in terms of his hockey.
“I think of the sacrifices my Dad made,” he said, adding “The best coach I had was my Dad.”
That coaching extended over a long distance. Trapp was in Maple Leaf Gardens at the Leaf camp, the only rookie in a room with the likes of Tim Horton and George Armstrong.
“I go back to the hotel room and phone my Dad and told him I’m coming home,” he said. “I was in awe. These were the guys I idolized.”
But his father convinced him to stay, eventually assigned to Rochester of the AHL.
“It was a lot of big steps from Balcarres and Melville to Toronto and Rochester,” said Trapp.
But it was as a coach and scout he really made his mark.
Trapp said it started almost by accident, as he answered an ad in the Leader-Post of a minor team seeking a coach. He got the job with what would now be known as the U-18 Regina Pats Capitals and then Regina Pats Canadians.
From there it was a steady rise in the coaching ranks.
By 1981-82, he was working as the head coach of the SJHL’s Regina Pat Blues. At the same time, he was with the Regina Pats as assistant general manager and assistant coach.
He moved to the Moose Jaw Warriors as general manager and head coach for 1985-86.
Trapp said coaching proved a good fit for him.
“I was a good communicator,” he said, adding he worked at the job. “I wanted to prove to myself I could coach.”
Then Trapp switched career paths in hockey spending six seasons with Hockey Canada as its director of scouting.
As it was as a coach Trapp’s scouting career made a number of stops including 10 years with NHL Central Scouting, the last five as their chief scout; four years with Toronto Maple Leafs as director of amateur scouting; and one year scouting for the Phoenix Coyotes.
Trapp said the world of scouting has changed dramatically.
Trapp said when he was looking at the list himself attached to the hall of fame induction he almost couldn’t believe it.
“I can’t believe a guy from a little town like Balcarres has done all these things,” he said.
But it is a career he certainly appreciated having had.
“Hockey has been very good to me,” said Trapp.
The Ted Knight Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame opened its doors in 2012 which coincided with Hockey Saskatchewan’s 100th-year celebration. For more information on the SHHOF, which is located in Swift Current at the InnovationPlex, please visit www.saskhockeyhalloffame.com
