Alumni Corner: Brendan Witt

Not many people who grow up working the fields in Saskatchewan find themselves kicking back in their 40's and surfing the beaches of SoCal, but that's exactly what Brendan Witt is doing these days, and he's loving it. Islander fans remember Witt as a hard-hitting, shot-blocking defenseman who played almost 900 games in the NHL - close to 250 of them in blue and orange. Always willing to mix it up, Witt stood out as a stand-up guy. There for his teammates whenever it was called for, he served as alternate captain for the Isles from 2006-07 until 2009-10. And he was definitely tough to play against - just ask the SUV that hit him one morning in Philly on his way to the rink for the morning skate. He bounced off the hood like an action star, brushed himself off, and was in the lineup later that night.

"That was a bit silly by me," Witt says in retrospect, "Probably just adrenaline." He feels lucky his knee didn't buckle during the game that night and says his whole body ached the next day. But that spirit is part of what made Witt such a great teammate. He wouldn't just go through a wall for his team, he would go through a Yukon, and did. So it's not surprising that after playing so hard for 14 seasons, Witt is enjoying this extended off season and finally treating his body to some well-deserved R & R.
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One of Witt's favorite ways to relax is surfing. It started in 1998, while he was playing with the Washington Capitals. A friend - who perhaps knew him better than he knew himself - drove Witt out to Ocean City, Maryland one day. Like a rookie gambler who hits blackjack the first time he sits at the table, Brendan got up on his first wave and was hooked. Not only did he love the feeling - the power of the ocean under his feet - but he could see how good it was for his balance, his shoulders, his core, and his cardio. Before long, Witt was surfing Long Beach and Lido Beach before practice and flying to Hawaii, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, even South Africa in the off-season. He still remembers Islanders' equipment manager Scott Boggs' reaction when he showed up at training camp with his surfboard. Boggs was laughing and cursing at the same time as he struggled to jam Witt's board on top of all the hockey gear for the trip up to New Brunswick. And yes, Witt surfed in Canada.

Always an iconoclast, Witt was not just a hockey-playing surfer. You may also remember him as one of the first hockey players to get tatted up.
His body art was featured in Sports Illustrated way back in 2007
. Although more commonly found around the league these days, when Witt started, he was definitely doing his own thing. "I don't do your traditional hockey player stuff. When guys were on the golf course, I was in the tattoo shop." He figures he was one of - if not the - first player to be fully sleeved, but come puck drop, Witt was all about the team.
When he retired in 2010, he and his wife Salima, and their kids, Aliana and Safiya, moved from Florida to a 100-acre ranch in Montana. They had horses, but don't be fooled - this is still Brendan Witt we're talking about, so this was no ordinary ranch. Witt's wife Salima is licensed to care for primates and other animals, and she'd been running a monkey rescue outfit in Florida. In Montana the wildlife refuge really took flight as they housed and cared for not just primates, but birds of prey, deer - even a few yaks. Perhaps the whacky crew of assorted animals helped ease Witt's transition from the locker room to civilian life and kept him from missing the game too much. He liked it in Montana - the whole family did - but it was a long way from the beach, which he missed. Luckily, his daughter Aliana is also drawn to the water. She'll be starting college at SDSU this fall and doing an internship at UCSD mapping coral, so the family moved to San Diego to be closer to her. Now Witt can hop on his beloved board without first hopping on a plane.
When he's not in or on the water, Witt still watches hockey, and he sees lots of changes in the game over the last 10 years, He remembers noticing the old way of playing hurt starting to die off during his last few years in the league - though when you play the same day you get hit by a car, you might be in a category all by yourself when it comes to playing hurt. "It's totally different than when I played," he said. He likes the speed, but perhaps misses some of the physicality. And he couldn't help but poke fun at the way the game has changed in terms of fighting: "Today's brawl is just two guys yelling insults at each other," he said.

Turning his focus from the game as whole to the Islanders in particular, Witt immediately began talking about the fans: "They were always awesome, very proud. When I played there, I really enjoyed the the fans." He also recalled fondly the times when Bryan Trottier would just show up at practice and skate with the team. It was fun, he said, but also inspirational when Trotts talked about the old days and the four cups. He thinks the new team is in good hands with the new Trotz - Head Coach Barry Trotz, the new General Manager Lou Lamoriello, and the new rink coming to Belmont Park. "The future looks bright," he says. "They have some great young players and a new coach and a new GM who will bring accountability on D."
Quite possibly his favorite Islander memory comes from the 2006-07 season, when the Islanders gave a one-day contract to an old school coach named Al Arbour. Despite Arbour's pregame speech and his moves behind the bench, the Isles were down by two going into the third against the Penguins. But the team rallied and came back to win, earning win number 1500 for the legendary Islander coach. As they spilled happily onto the ice to celebrate the win with Coach Arbour, Witt remembers feeling proud and lucky to have had a chance to help his coach for a day achieve that milestone. Looking back over his career, his time since retiring, as well as looking towards the future, Witt sounds more like a philosopher surfer dude than anything else: "Life is about experiences," he said, and it's obvious the ex-Islander tough guy is ready for whatever wave comes next.