Father, son and the big picture
Jeff Brown knows what it’s like to play and stay in the National Hockey League, having starred in more than 800 games at the highest level of competition.
And as a dad who has been there and as a reputable Ontario Hockey League coach, Brown is passing on what he has seen and learned to his 18-year old son Logan, who is poised to become a first-round pick at this month’s NHL draft.
As a player, the now 50-year old Brown was an instant OHL standout as a 16-year old first-round, second-overall pick of the struggling Sudbury Wolves in 1982. Brown would play four OHL seasons in Sudbury and the Wolves made the playoffs just once during that time.
But Brown stood out enough in Sudbury to become a second-round, NHL draft pick of the erstwhile Quebec Nordiques in 1984 and before graduating from the OHL, was named its best defenseman.
As Brown toughed it out for four seasons playing for bad teams and one-fired-coach-after-another in Sudbury, he would nonetheless take advantage of the opportunity presented to him and the immense talent and intelligence within him to become an NHL all-star.
Playing for several teams after being drafted by Quebec including the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks, Brown was not your average NHL defenseman.
A lanky, right-handed shooting defender who stood in at 6-foot-2 and played at just under 200 pounds, Brown skated in 834 NHL games and totaled a whopping 650 points, including 174 goals, from his blueline position. Three times, he scored 20 or more goals in a single season.
After retiring in 1998 at age 32 partly due to affects from a back injury, shin injury and a concussion that caused severe headaches, Brown settled in St. Louis with his wife and the three children they would have together.
A high achiever as a player, Brown has since become a junior hockey coaching standout.
Before taking the job in his hometown of Ottawa with the 67’s two years ago and leading an OHL resurgence in the nation’s capital with back-to-back winning seasons, Brown coached championship teams in both the North American Hockey League with the St. Louis Bandits and in the United States Hockey League with the Indiana Ice.
Having seen the big picture — and having lived it — Brown now awaits the June 24-25 NHL draft when his American-born son Logan is expected to hear his name called in the first round.
It’s a day that father has helped prepare son for with years of coaching and parental advice.
When coaching junior teams in both St. Louis and Indiana, Jeff would also help out with the younger teams that Logan was playing for as an up-and-coming forward. The hockey bond for father and son began when Jeff taught Logan how to skate before he was three years old.
To be sure, the kid has developed — in stature and ability.
Now 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, Logan is coming off two seasons in the OHL with the Windsor Spitfires in which he has become a top all-around player with first-round, NHL ability.
A towering blend of size, speed, skill and smarts, Logan has totaled 117 points, including 38 goals, in two OHL seasons with Windsor.
Smart and skilled like his dad, Logan plays what coaches call the 200-foot game with both grace and grit and a compete level that is right up there.
But as Logan is poised to become a sure-fire NHL first-rounder, Jeff has been sure to remind his son of the work that lies ahead.
“I have told him it doesn’t matter if you go first overall or 100th overall, all it is an invitation to work your ass off to make the NHL and be the best you can be,” Jeff relayed.
“There are a lot of really good players out there who never made the NHL and that includes a lot of high draft picks,” Jeff pointed out. “It takes a lot to make the NHL and it takes a lot more to stay there.”
As much as Jeff is Logan’s dad and his life-long mentor, there is the fact that they are OHL opponents, with Jeff coaching in Ottawa and Logan playing in Windsor.
To be sure, Jeff said he finds it “very stressful” when he has to coach against Logan.
“I mean, he’s my son and you always want what’s best for your child. But when the Ottawa 67’s play the Windsor Spitfires, the fact is I am being paid to try to beat my son,” Jeff said, with just a hint of anxiety in his voice. “I lose sleep over it and actually feel sick to my stomach while Logan sees it just as another game.”
Having being born in Raleigh, North Carolina but learning how to skate and play hockey as a youngster in St. Louis, Logan benefited from being around his retired dad.
In fact, while Logan was playing minor hockey in St. Louis, so too were the sons of two NHLers with the Blues.
Ryan MacInnis, son of Al MacInnis, is two years older than Logan. And Matthew Tkachuk, son of Keith Tkachuk, is a year older than Logan.
“What was great about St. Louis was how the minor hockey program would welcome guys like me, Al and Keith to help out with the kids teams,” Jeff recalled.
And as Logan Brown is slated to become an NHL first-rounder later this month, so too is Matthew Tkachuk of the London Knights. As for Ryan MacInnis, he was a second-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes two years ago and just finished up his OHL career with the Kitchener Rangers.
Meanwhile, as former NHL star Jeff Brown gets prepared for son Logan Brown to become an NHL first-rounder, there is another Brown kid in the wings.
Logan’s younger brother Caden has a 2003 birth date and plays within the Ottawa Jr. 67’s minor hockey program.
But Jeff is of the notion that Logan may have an advantage over his younger brother.
“I would say that the ice time that Logan and his team got when he played in St. Louis is more than one-and-a-half times than what Caden and his teammates are getting in Ottawa,” Jeff said evenly and carefully.
At any rate, as Jeff helps get Logan get ready for his rise from OHL star to high NHL draft pick, father continues to try to pass on what he knows to his son.
“Most of all I tell him to keep being a good teammate and keep working hard. Working hard is the one thing a player can control,” said the old pro who has been there and done that.
PHOTO: Logan Brown of the Windsor Spitfires with his dad, Jeff Brown of the Ottawa 67’s. (Photo by Postmedia.)
From what I know of Jeff Brown he is a good person a good Coach and a good Dad obviousley. Well written article by Randy Russon.