'We think we have best goalie in the OHL:' Brett Brochu to anchor Knights net as season opens
Coming off the high of winning a gold medal for Canada’s World Junior team, Brett Brochu was hoping to start his professional career this season.
However that will be put on hold for at least one more season.
“I would say it's not it's definitely not disappointment to be a London Knight,” says Brochu, 20, ahead of Friday night’s season-opening game against the Owen Sound Attack.
Brochu, of Belle River, Ont., was sent back to London, Ont. for an overage season after a tryout with the Vancouver Canucks.London Knights goalie Brett Brochu takes a break from the net in practice on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)
“It is my last chance and I think it's my last chance to win for the guys as a London Knight night so I'm really looking forward to this year,” says Brochu, who went undrafted in the NHL draft this summer.
“It’s awesome to be here and no matter what it's a great experience every time I get to get to step on the ice here.”
He was named OHL goaltender of the year ago after posting a 29-11-2 record with a 2.75 goals against average and two shutouts a year ago.
With a lot of uncertainty as to who will put the puck in the net this year with a number of forwards having moved on, head coach Dale Hunter is thrilled to know he has security in goal.
“We always hope that he will get a contract, but we have had a lot of overage goalies that come here and they play well and they get a contract and then move up to the next level,” says Hunter.
“So we just hope that we need them to have a big year for us and he needs it to get a contract, so it's a double whammy for us.”
It would not be a surprise to see him play the majority of the team’s games this season, although it won’t be all of them.
“We’ve got some young goalies here,” says Hunter.
“They're going to get their chances as we have a lot of three-in- threes (three games in three days over a weekend). We got a few of them so they got to play, as Brett can't play three in a row. So they have to play some games, so it gives them a good chance like, like Brochu had when he was 17.”
Brochu tells CTV News that the only stat he cares about is wins. He wants personal stats, but during the season, he doesn’t look at his numbers.
“Obviously I want to win so I think that's the biggest thing that I'm looking forward to this year is having a good chance at winning the league,” says Brochu.
“I know what I need to work on and there's a lot of things that I can get better at.”
When asked what he felt he needed to improve, he kept tight-lipped.
“I just think stopping more pucks as that's my job,” says Brochu.
“It's simple, but we can’t go into a lot of details here as I don't want to give away too many secrets of weaknesses.”
Judging by his play since his arrival in London, there aren’t many weaknesses for opponents to discover.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Angst and calls for resting places as Surrey, B.C., pet cemetery development continues
A single headstone is all that remains of dozens of markers for long-buried pets in a subdivision in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood, where a half-acre parcel bears a large sign announcing the proposed construction of new homes.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.