It’s been a rough couple of years for the once-exciting prospect, Keith Trubachev. Heralding from the small island municipality of Bowen Island, his life was hockey,

Quote:“I remember getting up at 6 in the morning, and taking the ferry across to the mainland, just to get to practice. It was a rough slog, but the friends I made and the experiences on the rink made it completely worthwhile.”

Worthwhile is an understatement, after being selected 47th overall in the ridiculously deep S19 SMJHL draft, Trubachev exploded onto the professional scene. Paired with Aston Martin, he notched 13 goals and 15 assists in 40 goals. The Martin-Trubachev duo was dynamic, and certainly sent many Farce defensemen to bed fearful of impending match-ups.

Quote:”I will forever remember my time as a Knight. Mainly because of the GM. He was a great guy, a real league leader. Whenever you were being moved around in the lineup, he’d sit you down and explained his reasons, and he was never annoyed by requests to explain how life in the bigs worked”

By the end of the S19 season, Troubachev was one of the most hyped prospects in the league. Rewarded for his strong play in that season, he was picked in the second round by New England. Unfortunately it began to fall of the tracks.

Quote: “It was a simple decision really. They sat me down and discussed if whether a development year in the SMJHL would be better or if a bottom-6 character role would be better.” Unfortunately I made the wrong choice.

And so Trubachev decided to return to the SMJHL for one more kick at the Four-Star Cup. However, after being hampered by injuries during the pre-season, Trubachev found himself stuck on the third-line of a completely re-vamped team.

Quote: “It was an odd adjustment. The entire locker-room culture had shifted. Suddenly I was a veteran, gone with my rookie-excitement

That season, Trubachev never seemed to regain what made him so dominant the season before and his point totals decreased by a full 20 %. This didn’t bode well for his future with New England, so he ended up spending his next season in the SMJHL as well.

Quote: “At this point, I was demoralized. Nothing was clicking, but I decided to hold my head high and try again for that elusive Four-Star Cup”

And it was elusive no more. In the S21 season Trubachev seemed to regain that spark that made him stand out. This time he scored 18 goals with 43 points as Kelowna dominated the league and entered the playoffs.

Quote: “This was deja-vu all over for me. In S19 we entered the playoffs as favourites, but were quickly disposed by the Whalers… We weren’t going to let that happen again.

They didn’t. Trubachev, back on the first line was essential to the Knights first four-cup championship in 10 years. He notched 11 points in 12 games, and was able to now look forward on his career.
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But it came to a crashing halt.

Quote: I vividly remember sitting in the doctor’s office, a week before training camp and being unable to comprehend what Dr. Adams was telling me. ’10 months.’ All I could think was… ‘But that’d be the whole season… he must mean 10 days’… ’10 months’

A broken collarbone had finished him. And after that he lost it. Never amounting to play more than a depth role for a rebuilding New England, he’s finally decided to call it quits.

~w:590