Vincent Trocheck reflects on how his Pittsburgh roots helped him become an Olympian

PITTSBURGH — Vincent Trocheck is a Pittsburgh kid through and through.

There’s no better example of that than an old photo displayed proudly in the Trocheck home. It’s of a young Vincent posing with Mario Lemieux at a hockey camp.

“We consider Pittsburgh home,” Trocheck told Channel 11. “I always have. I’ve always come back here every summer. I think the blue-collar roots of this town and the city are something that have been instilled in me from a young age.”

Trocheck is part of a generation of local hockey talent that includes J.T. Miller and Brandon Saad, all shaped by the game’s biggest stars right down the street.

“I think being able to grow up watching guys like Mario when I was really young, and then right into (Sidney Crosby) as I grew older, it got the kids around this area into the game. I think my age group alone, we had four or five guys drafted in the NHL from this area.”

For the Upper St. Clair native, learning to skate came almost as naturally as learning to walk.

“He was probably about three-years-old, and he started skating out in Mount Lebanon,” said Trocheck’s father, Vincent Trocheck Sr. “He just got hooked on watching the hockey players when he would be leaving the rink.”

Chasing the younger Trocheck’s NHL dream meant sacrifice for the whole family. He, his parents and two sisters spent plenty of time apart as Trocheck’s talent developed. They even temporarily moved to Michigan for better exposure and bigger challenges.

“I think he thought it from when he was a little kid. That was his dream,” said his mother, Rita Trocheck. “Every year we would say, ‘oh, he’s never going to have a better year than that. He’s never going to outdo that,’ and he would. Every year, he would do something that was better than the year before.”

That growth, discipline and support have produced 13 NHL seasons, two All-Star appearances and two international medals, including winning gold with Team USA at the 2013 World Junior Championships.

This winter, he’s adding Olympian to his resume.

“It’s an honor and a blessing to be able to go over there and represent Team USA, obviously. It’s something that we’ve all dreamed of since we were little kids,” Trocheck said. “Me and my family, we’re all looking forward to going over there.”

However, what makes his family proudest is the person off the ice.

The man wearing red, white and blue for Team USA is, in many ways, the same kid at camp with Le Magnifique.

“He’s remained the same person,” said Trocheck Sr. “He respects people. He has good character. He’s humble about it. He’s never flashy or flamboyant in any way. He’s just a good kid, a good guy.”

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