on april 15, 2008, he was recalled from the hamilton bulldogs of the american hockey league. he was expected to play his first nhl game on april 19, 2008, against the boston bruins but was a late scratch. in the 2009–10 season on february 5, 2010 brock was again recalled from hamilton bulldogs to montreal. he finally made his nhl debut on february 6, 2010 against the pittsbugh penguins in a 5-3 victory. playing with familiar bulldogs teammates with ryan white and david desharnais, trotter went scoreless in two games before returning to the bulldogs to lead the team with 36 goals and place second to desharnais with 77 points.