Andrew Brunette

Andrew Brunette
Brunette with the Colorado Avalanche in 2007
Born	(1973-08-24) August 24, 1973 (age 50) Valley East, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	212 lb (96 kg; 15 st 2 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Washington Capitals Nashville Predators Atlanta Thrashers Minnesota Wild Colorado Avalanche Chicago Blackhawks
Current NHL coach	Nashville Predators
Coached for	Florida Panthers
NHL draft	174th overall, 1993 Washington Capitals
Playing career	1993–2012
Coaching career	2014–present

Andrew D. Brunette (born August 24, 1973) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the head coach for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). As a player, Brunette played over 1,100 career games in the NHL with the Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, and Chicago Blackhawks between 1996 and 2012. He previously served as interim head coach for the Florida Panthers, as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils, and as the Wild's assistant general manager.

Playing career

Brunette grew up in the small community of Valley East, Ontario, just outside Sudbury. He played much of his minor hockey career with the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA).

After a solid Midget season in 1989–90, Brunette was selected in the seventh round of the 1990 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection by the Owen Sound Platers. He was an OHL teammate of future NHLers Kirk Maltby, Scott Walker, Kevin Weekes, and Jamie Storr.

Brunette played for the Platers for three seasons between 1990 and 1993 and scored 295 points in 195 games, winning the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy (the league scoring title) in 1993. He was subsequently drafted by the Washington Capitals in the seventh round, 174th overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

After being drafted, he played for the Hampton Roads Admirals in the ECHL before moving to the American Hockey League (AHL), where he played for two more teams that season: Providence Bruins and Portland Pirates. Brunette stayed with the Pirates until 1998 but was called up by the Capitals for the first time in the 1995–96 season and played 11 NHL games. Over the following few seasons, he played 51 more games for Washington before being selected in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft by the Nashville Predators. Notably, he scored the Predators' first-ever goal.

After playing in the inaugural 1998–99 season for the Predators, he moved to the newly created Atlanta Thrashers and played two seasons there before moving to the Minnesota Wild in the 2001–02 NHL season. Brunette scored the winning goal in overtime of Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Colorado Avalanche on April 22, 2003, the final game of Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy's career. Brunette stayed with the Wild until 2004 and signed as a free agent for the Colorado Avalanche after the 2004–05 lockout.

He scored the series-clinching goal for the Avalanche on April 30, 2006, against the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of the 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals. The 2006–07 was his best individual season, averaging over a point per game for his first time in the NHL, playing on a line with superstar centre Joe Sakic. Brunette scored his 500th NHL career point on October 26, 2007, against the Calgary Flames. ^[1] He played three consecutive full 82-game seasons with the Avalanche.

Brunette signed a three-year, $7 million contract with the Minnesota Wild on July 1, 2008, to begin a second stint with the club. ^[2] On October 9, he was named an alternate captain alongside Mikko Koivu. ^[3]

Brunette was highly regarded for his physical durability and consistency, qualities which allowed him to play in 509 consecutive games without having to sit out due to injury from 2002 to 2009. ^[4] However, he was diagnosed with a torn ACL in his right knee but insisted on finishing the 2008–09 season before having surgery in the off-season. ^{[5] [6]}

On July 1, 2011, Brunette signed a one-year, $2 million with the Chicago Blackhawks. ^[7] During the 2011–12 season, Brunette, in a reduced role, recorded a career-low in points with 27 in 78 games.

With the 2012–13 NHL lockout and limited NHL interest as a free agent upon the resumption of the shortened 2012–13 season, on February 13, 2013, Brunette announced his retirement from his playing career and that he would rejoin the Minnesota Wild organization as its hockey operations advisor. ^[8]

Coaching career

Brunette was an assistant coach of the Minnesota Wild for two seasons from the 2014–15 season and served as the Wild's assistant general manager until the conclusion of the 2018–19 season.^{[ citation needed ]} On June 4, 2019, he joined the Florida Panthers as an assistant coach on head coach Joel Quenneville's staff. On October 29, 2021, Brunette was named the interim head coach of the Panthers after head coach Quenneville resigned on October 28. ^{[9] [10]} Following the Panthers getting swept by the Lightning in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, there was much uncertainty about Brunette's future as head coach. On June 22, 2022, the Panthers announced that Paul Maurice would be the next head coach of the franchise. Brunette was offered a significant position within the organization, but ultimately decided to leave for an assistant position with the New Jersey Devils. ^[11]

After one season in New Jersey, Brunette was named head coach of the Nashville Predators, whom he had previously played for, on May 31, 2023. ^[12]

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1989–90	Rayside-Balfour Canadians	NOJHL		4	1	1	2	0		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats	GNML		32	38	65	103	20		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Owen Sound Platers	OHL		63	15	20	35	15		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Owen Sound Platers	OHL		66	51	47	98	42		5	5	0	5	8
1992–93	Owen Sound Platers	OHL		66	62	100	162	91		8	8	6	14	16
1993–94	Hampton Roads Admirals	ECHL		20	12	18	30	32		7	7	6	13	18
1993–94	Providence Bruins	AHL		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Portland Pirates	AHL		23	9	11	20	10		2	0	1	1	0
1994–95	Portland Pirates	AHL		79	30	50	80	53		7	3	3	6	10
1995–96	Portland Pirates	AHL		69	28	66	94	125		20	11	18	29	15
1995–96	Washington Capitals	NHL		11	3	3	6	0		6	1	3	4	0
1996–97	Portland Pirates	AHL		50	22	51	73	48		5	1	2	3	0
1996–97	Washington Capitals	NHL		23	4	7	11	12		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Portland Pirates	AHL		43	21	46	67	64		10	1	11	12	12
1997–98	Washington Capitals	NHL		28	11	12	23	12		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Nashville Predators	NHL		77	11	20	31	26		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Atlanta Thrashers	NHL		81	23	27	50	30		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Atlanta Thrashers	NHL		77	15	44	59	26		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Minnesota Wild	NHL		81	21	48	69	18		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Minnesota Wild	NHL		82	18	28	46	20		18	7	6	13	4
2003–04	Minnesota Wild	NHL		82	15	34	49	12		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		82	24	39	63	48		9	3	6	9	8
2006–07	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		82	27	56	83	36		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		82	19	40	59	14		10	5	3	8	2
2008–09	Minnesota Wild	NHL		80	22	28	50	18		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Minnesota Wild	NHL		82	25	36	61	12		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Minnesota Wild	NHL		82	18	28	46	16		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		78	12	15	27	4		6	1	0	1	0
NHL totals				1,110	268	465	733	314		49	17	18	35	14

Head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season						Postseason
		G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Finish	W	L	Win%	Result
FLA	2021–22	75	51	18	6	108	1st in Atlantic	4	6	.400	Lost in second round (TBL)
FLA total		75	51	18	6			4	6	.400	1 playoff appearance
NSH	2023–24	82	47	30	5	99	4th in Central	2	4	.333	Lost in first round (VAN)
NSH total		82	47	30	5			2	4	.333	1 playoff appearance
Total		157	98	48	11			6	10	.333	2 playoff appearances

See also

• Biography portal

• List of NHL players with 1,000 games played

References

1. Stancher, Craig (October 26, 2007). "Brunette Earns 500th Career Point". Colorado Avalanche. Archived from the original on October 28, 2007. Retrieved October 28, 2007.
2. "Brunette leaves Avs for Wild, report says". Rocky Mountain News . July 1, 2008. Retrieved July 1, 2008.^{[ dead link ]}
3. "Wild names alternate captains". nhl.com. October 9, 2008. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
4. "Brunette's ironman streak ends at 509". nhl.com. February 21, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
5. "Wild's Brunette to have surgery on torn ACL". cbc.ca. April 13, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
6. "Wild's Brunette has knee surgery". slam.canoe..ca. April 13, 2009.
7. "NHL Free Agent Tracker". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
8. "Brunette named Hockey Operations Advisor". Minnesota Wild. February 13, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
9. @FlaPanthers (October 29, 2021). "Statement from Florida Panthers General Manager Bill Zito on Interim Head Coach Andrew Brunette" (Tweet). Retrieved October 29, 2021– via Twitter.
10. "Florida Panthers Announce Resignation of Joel Quenneville". NHL.com. October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
11. Richards, George (July 13, 2022). "Andrew Brunette leaves Florida Panthers for New Jersey Devils". Florida Hockey Now. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
12. "Predators Name Andrew Brunette Head Coach". NHL.com. May 31, 2023. Retrieved May 31, 2023.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database

Sporting positions
Preceded by Brad Brown Brad Brown Jim Dowd Mikko Koivu	Minnesota Wild captain February–April 2002 November 2003 March–April 2004 February 2009	Succeeded by Brad Bombardir Richard Park Alex Henry Mikko Koivu
Preceded by Joel Quenneville	Head coach of the Florida Panthers (interim) 2021–2022	Succeeded by Paul Maurice
Preceded by John Hynes	Head coach of the Nashville Predators 2023–present	Incumbent

Note: The Wild maintained a rotating captaincy from 2000 through 2009, during which Brunette served as captain four times.