TROUT CREEK, Mont. — There are several ways to get to Trout Creek. Roy Sommer, a hockey coach who knows the back ways of the professional game as well as anyone, likes the dirt road.
He left Moose’s Saloon in Kalispell, his Toyota Sequoia filled with family, supplies and leftover pizza. He had a month until training camp started for the San Jose Barracuda, the top minor league affiliate of the Sharks, which Sommer coaches. He had three hours until he arrived at his summer cabin.
He began to list the two dozen places he has played and coached in the minor leagues.