There’s no sophomore jinx for Hunter Brzustewicz.
Brzustewicz started his second season with the Kitchener Rangers with a resounding 16 points (4-12-16) eight games into the OHL season.
He leads all OHL defencemen in points and is tied second overall with his teammates Adrian Misaljevic and Carson Rehkopf.
The work he’s put in throughout the summer on his own and at Canucks Development Camp and Training Camp has put his game right where he wants it to be.
“I feel good. I expected my game to be where it’s at right now and I expect it to improve offensively and defensively as the season progresses. We’ve had such a great start and we’re such a close group off the ice too. I think anything is possible with a close group even if we don’t have as much star power as we did last year,” Brzustewicz said.
The Rangers are in second place in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference boasting a 6-2 record. They are a younger team this season and Brzustewicz says their success is due to everyone getting on the same page early.
“The young guys just bought in and we have to give a lot of credit to them. They’re doing a great job of taking in all the information, learning the system, and doing everything they can in their power to be ready,” he said.
While his personality is to go with the flow, it's hard to miss his competitive fire. He’s already outpacing the 57 points (6-51-57) he posted last season, and his mentality to constantly be an offensive threat comes from his desire to win and help take his team as far as possible.
“I’m a very competitive guy, I think I’m almost the most competitive guy, so I always want to win and help the team win any way I can, and scoring goals is a big part of that.”
Canucks' Player Development Coach and former NHL defenseman, Mike Komisarek, described Brzustewicz’s puck management as a “quarterback in the pocket,” and it’s especially clear at the offensive blue line.
It’s fitting that his favourite athlete is Tom Brady, even though he says he’s not as strict with his diet or his sleep regimen as the Hall of Fame quarterback, but he’s got the same vision. He sees the game one second at a time – similar to slow motion – assessing his options and finding the best one. He’s found it helpful for his game to watch how athletes in different sports hone their crafts and prepare.
“It’s really just making the reads at the right moment,” he said.
One example in a game against the Niagra IceDogs, he orchestrated a sequence that resulted Rangers’ rookie Luca Romano’s first OHL goal.
“Honestly, I could read it coming from a mile away. It was on the power play coming from the right side of the blue line, [Matthew] Sop gave it up to me and he was coming off the wall. Their left-side defenceman came up a little too high and, reading that, Sop had a clear cut lane to either pass or to the net. He was a little bit below him so I knew if I could move it quick and get it to him, he an open pass to Romano. It was great for Romano to get his first one,” Brzustewicz said.
