FINAL GAMES IMPORTANT TO BRASSART, WILD
Mar 19, 2015
Final Games Important to Brassart, Wild
By Tom Witosky
Follow @toskyAHLWild
Only a few games remain for the Iowa Wild, but the season is a long way from over for center Brady Brassart.
“I am not ready for the season to end,” the 21- year-old native of Vernon, B.C. said. “We want to win every game and finish as best we can. Everyone has a point to prove.”
Brassart has become a bright spot for the Wild during a difficult year, which likely will force the players into an early offseason for the second consecutive year. But Brassart is looking forward not backward.
“No one is happy with it, but you can’t live in the past,” Brassart said. “We are living in the future and getting ready for our next game and next season.”
John Torchetti, the Wild’s head coach, is optimistic about Brassart’s potential as he ends his first season in the American Hockey League. He said that Brassart is among the players who will get a lot of attention as the season draws to a close, which includes 10 home games out of the last 14.
“We need to prove we are a good team, particularly with all of the changes we have had. I like the direction we are going right now,” he said.
Of Brassart, Torchetti described as a “good kid and is someone who is asking for more work.”
“He just has to keep working on being a solid two-way center,” he said.
So far this season, Brassart has scored five goals and added 10 assists while playing in 57 games. That scoring output is far below how he performed with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, where he scored 35 goals during the last two seasons and earned himself a free agent contract with Minnesota.
But Torchetti said that Brassart has steadily improved his play within Iowa’s structure and is learning to play AHL style hockey where players are just bigger and faster.
“He is learning how to become a consistent pro and is better at it,” Torchetti said. “Guys have different learning curves. In last month, he has come a lot further.”
Part of his improvement has been his focus on playing better defense and within the structure of the club’s approach. At the beginning, Torchetti said, Brassart seemed more concerned with scoring than playing within the structure.
“Once he stops worrying about getting points and starts thinking about playing defense all the time, then he is going to see the points come. When you are focusing on points, you are playing defense too much because you are turning the puck over,” Torchetti said.
But Brassart’s improvement on the ice has given him a new opportunity. Torchetti has placed Brassart on the Wild’s top penalty killing line in hopes of improving the special team play.
Torchetti said Brassart asked for the assignment.
“We are throwing him to the wolves, but he wants that responsibility.” Torchetti said. “When a player asks for more, I try to give them the shot.”
Brassart said that he considers the move very important in his development. Last year, Brassart played nine games for Iowa and learned the game demanded more of him in terms of speed and strength. Now, he said, it is time for him to develop the ability to read power plays before they happen.
“It is something I need to have in my game,” Brassart said. “There are a lot of guys at the next level who make a good living as penalty killers especially at center.”
Brassart said that a good penalty killer has the skill “to be in the right place and take away passes and options.”
“It is an art,” he said. “You are at a disadvantage, but there a ways to stop it. It isn’t so much about reacting as it is about reading what they are doing.”
Torchetti said Brassart’s ability to win face-offs is one of the major reasons why he is on the penalty kill. Overall, Torchetti said, Brassart is winning around 56 percent of his face-offs.
“He does his video work and does quite well on face-offs,” the Wild head coach said. “He has been doing a good job of studying the opposing team before we play them. “
Ironically, Brassart, despite being rookie, is now among the most veteran players on the club with 57 games under his belt, ranking third among all players. Call-ups from Minnesota, injuries as well as numerous roster changes have presented Brassart and other players with an opportunity to turn the end of the season into something positive.
“With so many new guys, you have to build chemistry quickly.” Brassart said. “I think we have done a good job of getting folks on the same page. It is always a challenge.”
At the same time, Brassart said that the final games of the season provides the club with a chance to show Wild fans that there are good reasons to be hopeful about what is becoming a good team.
“The fans have been awesome this year and we all appreciate it a lot,” Brassart said. “We want to show them how much we appreciate it by playing hard and winning as many as we can.”