Given his life in the game has spanned decades, NHL locker rooms, front offices and behind benches, it’s no surprise Andrew Brunette’s name means something different depending on who you ask.
For those in Denver, he was the dynamic scorer who stacked points on Joe Sakic’s wing. In Saint Paul, he was the author of the Game 7 overtime winner against those Avs. In four other NHL towns, there are more memories, and now, a slate of new ones being made by the winger-turned-coach.
For the people of Owen Sound, Ont., though, Brunette will always be one simple thing: their best.
Long before the big-league mainstay made his name in the NHL, Brunette was just a kid living his OHL dream, suiting up for the Owen Sound Platers with his best friends, giving it all he had — which turned out to be the most in the city’s hockey history. In 1992-93, a young Brunette lit the OHL on fire with an absurd 62 goals and 162 points in just 66 games. Thirty years later, the numbers still stand as the most goals, assists and points ever collected in a single season in Owen Sound.
Looking back on it now, though, it isn’t the highlights of any of those 62 tallies that stand out in his mind. It’s the people who were out there with him.
“A lot of the different things stick out. You know, the big moments from that team,” Brunette, now an associate coach for the New Jersey Devils, says. “But I think it’s just the pure joy that group brought. Being around them, being on the ice every day, growing up with them, really, for those years together. … That year was obviously very special in a lot of different ways.”
Of course, there is one highlight-reel memory that’s tough to shake.
“You know, I think I had a 48-game point streak, or something to that effect. I’ll never forget the day it ended,” he says with a chuckle.
Ahead of Hockey Day in Canada’s celebration of Owen Sound on Jan. 21, Sportsnet delved deep with Brunette on his journey in a Platers sweater, the people who shaped his time in Owen Sound, and the impact his OHL days had on the rest of his career.
[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.]
SPORTSNET: Let’s go back to the beginning. What do you remember about first finding out you would be heading to Owen Sound to play in the Ontario Hockey League?
ANDREW BRUNETTE: You’re excited. The Ontario Hockey League, for any kid growing up in Ontario, was sort of the NHL, for our hopes and dreams and aspirations. I wasn’t really sure exactly where Owen Sound was at the time that I was drafted, but to be drafted and to have an opportunity to play in the Ontario Hockey League was obviously a dream come true for me.
So, it was a lot of excitement. And then there’s a lot of fear, I guess you could say, about leaving home. You know, you’re a younger kid, going to play with older kids, and not truly sure where you’re going. But I think the excitement level of having an opportunity to play in that league kind of overcame all those fears. It was a dream to be drafted, for one, and to go on and play — it was a step of accomplishing one of my goals as a young hockey player.
You’ve had a long career in the game since those days, but do you still remember that first day in Owen Sound, and those first memories of joining the Platers organization?
For sure. The first team, the dressing room, the jersey, the arena. The excitement that came with it, and how much work you had to do. [Laughs.] I was always a kid that played baseball in the summer and hockey in the winter, and it was a little eye-opening how much work you had to put in to play at that level. And then training camp — you know, fall in Owen Sound, Labour Day weekend in Owen Sound, is probably the best time of year up there. I have very fond memories of swimming in the bay after practice.
Going to that first camp, it was the emotions of trying to prove yourself — you’re not exactly sure where you fit into this team, in the city, but you were just pushing as hard as you can to get an opportunity to throw that jersey on and to play. And, you know, a month later, it’s your first OHL game. I remember just thinking how big the rink was. It was very special. It’s something I’ll never forget.
You got that first year under your belt, and then in your second season, you hit another level, putting up 50 goals, becoming one of the top goal-scorers in the league. What went into taking that next step?
I mean, it was really hard. Even going back to my first year, you had a fourth-line role, you’re trying to find your way on the team, in the league, where you fit. It took an opportunity where the coaching staff believed in me, believed that I had a little bit more to give. It was hard. It was hard living six hours away. You know, I think it helped shape me to handle a lot of different adversity in my career. I wasn’t playing a lot — an offensive guy playing on the fourth line, some nights one shift, two shifts. To be able to keep your self-confidence and your belief and your drive served me so well.
I was very fortunate to be around wonderful billets, Gord and Betsy Gallagher and their family, that really helped me a lot in that period. Because that was a really hard period, as a young player. But you just keep trying to get better every day, and when you get your opportunity, make the best of it. I was very fortunate to make the best of it when it finally came around. It’s something that, for the rest of my career, was always such an important part. There’s so many different kids I’d see that had given up, or didn’t want to go through the mud. I was able to do that, and learn. And it happened at different parts of my career, where things were hard. They’re not all easy, but I think if you have belief and a work ethic, and people around you that care about you, you kind of find your way to get through it. And once you get through it, you’re a better person and a better hockey player.
So for me, as a 16-, 17-year-old kid, that was so important. That year I think I just kind of took off. And, you know, being one of the leading scorers the next year, on a team that was kind of on the rise a little bit, was really fun. To be able to do that, and establish myself as a top scorer in the league, just kind of set the groundwork for my next season.
That next season you dominated, of course, breaking records, winning awards, setting the benchmark for the most goals, assists and points in one season in Owen Sound hockey history. When you look back at that wild season now, what memories stand out most?
There’s lots of things that stick out that year. It was a little bit of fire-wagon hockey, the brand we played was very exciting. We had some really good offensive guys. Scotty Walker, who was probably 20 years before his time as a very offensive defenceman. Jimmy Brown, I played with him for three years. It kind of capped off that little run with Scotty and Jimmy — we came up together, and our third year was the year that we were all 19-year-olds. It was our team now, and we just took the reins and ran with it.
Going into that year, what did you expect of yourself and your season? Could you feel that it was going to be a big year for you?
I didn’t know it would end up quite like the year that I had. [Laughs.] But I think I felt very confident leaving my second year. I just really wanted to be a really good junior hockey player. I mean, you didn’t really envision the NHL. Of course you loved it, but I just wanted to be the best player I could be on the ice in that league. And that was my focus. If you asked me if I would have scored 160-some points, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do that, but I felt confident I was going to have a big year. I thought I could score more than I scored the year before.
As the season rolled along, when did it click for you that it wasn’t going to be a normal year, and that you were on track for a special season?
Probably Christmas, you know? You go into Christmas and you had the point streak and you had crazy numbers. I think that was kind of an eye-opener that, ‘Geez, we’ve got a really good team here.’ We could score, really good power play. I had an opportunity to do something that every kid dreams of, and that’s to win a scoring title. You have a chance to have your name in history, and being the top scorer in the league I think drove you a little bit more to want to do that.
You mentioned some of your teammates. What do you remember about their reactions during that season, and the support you got from them as that year went on?
We were all having career years, we were all feeling pretty good about ourselves, and we were enjoying it. We enjoyed the moment, enjoyed being together, and we were rooting for each other. We all wanted each other to do the best we could possibly do. We all wanted each other to have a chance to move on.
We had some wonderful guys on that team. You kind of grew up with them a little bit, being in a small town in Owen Sound. That’s what makes Owen Sound so special, is that — and it’s not saying it as a bad thing — it’s not a big metropolis. It’s not London, it’s not where you have all these colleges and universities. Owen Sound is a very small community, and because of that, we were such a tight group. I mean, we were together 24/7. We weren’t in a bigger city where guys are 20 minutes away from each other — we were all there together. There’s only a few places we’d go and we always went together.
That’s the charm of playing in Owen Sound. I don’t know if there’s a team in that league where you get as close, as a group. You have some success but you also enjoy the fun of being around those guys. It was something that I wouldn’t change for anything. It was a real special time in my life.
When you think of the people of Owen Sound, is there a sense of pride in knowing the impact you had on the city, the fact that you were able to put on a show and make some history for those fans?
I guess I never really thought of it that way. I just thought of trying to be the best player on the ice every night. But you could feel in our building, there was a lot of pride. And being in a small town, you kind of knew all the different people, and they were such a wonderful supportive community. To be able to go put a show on for them and have the kind of year you had, it’s what makes hockey fun, as a player. To play in front of your home crowd. It meant something not only to you, but it meant a lot to them. And the passion they had, as we’ve seen, when they almost lost their team — they really hold their team dear to their heart. And we feel it as players playing there, how important we are there. So I think it puts the onus on us to make sure we put our best foot forward, because it means, to that community, so much.
That record-setting season was your final one in Owen Sound before you went on to a long career in the pros. What impact did your time in Owen Sound have on that next phase of your career?
I think the life lessons, probably bigger than anything. You know, I was never the fleetest of foot — it was always going to be a grind. People always questioned whether I could play at the next level, like they questioned if I could play junior hockey. I learned so much that first year, in how to deal with a lot of those different things. And it made me a stronger personality [and] player. I had to go through it again in the American Hockey League, I had to go through it again in the NHL. It wasn’t going to be easy. But the lessons I learned as a young first-year junior in Owen Sound helped carry me through the career that I was able to eventually have. That stuck with me.
Looking back on it all now, 30 years later, what memories stand out most when you think of Owen Sound and all you were able to do there?
All kinds of memories. My billets, Gord and Betsy Gallagher, and their family, to take me in as a 16-year-old kid, kind of lost, not sure what he had. I was so fortunate to be around them, and we became lifelong friends. To build those relationships is what hockey’s all about, in a lot of different ways, and that was a real special one. Ray McKelvie, who just passed away, was a real important figure for the community and for my hockey career. To be around Ray, and how much he cared about all his players — he was like a grandfather for all of us. He was such a wonderful man and such a key piece to all of us kids wanting to be in Owen Sound. He really wanted to make sure we enjoyed it, and were taken care of. I’ll miss Ray very, very dearly. He was an important part of my development as a person and as a hockey player.
How they fought to keep the team. It shows you the passion they have as a community. I always think of that part of it. And Owen Sound, being a smaller community, all my teammates, how tight we were in that era. That’s how I’ll always think of Owen Sound — the snow storms, the beautiful falls, the bay, going for a swim after practice.
Those are things that stay with you forever.