Color of Hockey: Braceful paying it forward with NTDP

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog for the past eight years. Douglas joined NHL.com in March 2019 and writes about people of color in the game. Today, he profiles Rod Braceful, assistant director of player personnel for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.

Rod Braceful, shaken by the death of George Floyd at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer in May, organized an extraordinary Zoom call.
The USA Hockey National Team Development Program assistant director of player personnel arranged a call with 20 Black NCAA Division I players. They talked about race and being a minority in hockey and how to discuss what's happening in the world with teammates who might not look like them or understand what they go through on and off the ice.
"He's really done a good job of bringing us together in a way that no one else really has," said
Jayden Struble
, a Northeastern University defenseman and a second-round (No. 46) pick by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2019 NHL Draft who was on the Zoom call. "He's kind of like a godfather, doing the most to make us feel like we're not in it alone."
As a top recruiter and talent evaluator for the NTDP, Braceful is one of the most prominent Black Americans in hockey with a role in helping to launch college and professional playing careers.
"He cares about players, period," said former NHL goalie
John Vanbiesbrouck
, USA Hockey's assistant executive director for hockey operations. "He wants to see everybody advance."

But Braceful hasn't forgotten his hockey roots, which first took hold as a learn-to-play kid at Detroit's Jack Adams Memorial Arena.
The 32-year-old former collegiate player is paying it forward, doing what mentors and friends like Jason McCrimmon, president of the Detroit Ice Dreams Youth Hockey Association and coach of Motor City of the USPHL; Jason Payne, a coach for Cincinnati of the ECHL; and Cyril Bollers, coach of the Jamaican national team, have done for him on his way up the hockey ladder.
"I was fortunate that those guys saw something in me," Braceful said. "And even though I didn't make it as a player, I think that they understood and knew that all the things that they gave to me I would eventually pass on. And that's all I'm trying to do."
Braceful helped recruit players for the all-Black-and-Hispanic NextGen team that was coached by former NHL players
Mike Grier
and
Bryce Salvador
and won the Pro Division at the 2020 Beantown Summer Classic tournament, an invitation-only tournament in Exeter, New Hampshire, two weeks ago.
He said the idea behind the team was to give elite minority players, many of whom didn't know each other, a chance to meet and bond during a tournament weekend. The team was also formed to highlight the need for hockey to consider ways to help talented players of color who may have started in the sport through learn to play programs and progressed to more competitive levels of hockey.
"I really think if we can help the minorities at the pee wee and bantam levels, then you'll get them to midget and junior hockey," Braceful said. "Then you help them in midget and junior, you'll have more playing college hockey. And then from there, you'll have more playing pro hockey."

Finding the players wasn't hard. Most of them were on the Zoom call with Braceful. Grier, a New Jersey Devils coach, and Leon Hayward, an assistant with Colorado College's NCAA Division I men's team, also joined the call.
"Because all of these guys are kind of at the start at college onto pro, I want to make sure we're taking care of the guys who are trying to get to the next level," Braceful said.
Marshall Warren
knows firsthand about Braceful's mentoring. The Boston College sophomore defenseman played for the NTDP from 2017-19 and often found himself chatting with Braceful about hockey and life outside the rink.
"Obviously being Black, that's a main connection we have -- but it's much more than that," Warren said. "Honestly, to me, he's one of the most open people. You can talk to him any time."
Braceful was there for Warren at the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver when things didn't go as expected. Warren was ranked 61st among North American Skaters by NHL Central Scouting and was projected to be selected in the first three rounds.
Instead, he was chosen in the sixth round (No. 166) by the Minnesota Wild. Shortly after, Braceful put his hand on Warren's shoulder and talked with the noticeably disappointed defenseman in a Rogers Arena hallway.
"He basically said, 'Of their eight picks, Minnesota drafted only one (defenseman), they drafted you, so you've got to show them,'" said Warren, who wears a sliver dog tag-like chain with his draft position inscribed as a motivational reminder. "He really made me smile, he made me happy."
Braceful said he wanted Warren to focus on the future.
"I just told him, 'Hey, don't be disappointed in yourself,'" Braceful said. "'You should soak up the moment and not be disappointed.' He's going to go a long way and he can play in the NHL."
Braceful was hired as the NTDP's assistant director of player personnel in October 2018 after Rick Comley Jr. left to take an amateur scout position with the Arizona Coyotes. His resume spoke volumes to USA Hockey's brain trust: He served as director of scouting for Muskegon of the United States Hockey League under Vanbiesbrouck, who was the team's general manager.
He served as Midwest hockey director for Legacy Global Sports, where he organized and led camps for Selects Hockey; coached in Michigan's Little Caesars and Compuware youth hockey programs; and played and coached at New England College, an NCAA Division III school.
"For me, Rod goes above and beyond in every aspect, getting to know the players, getting to know the families," said Kevin Reiter, the NTDP's director of player personnel. "He's so knowledgeable about the game. I think he's progressive in his thinking in the way the game should be played. He's been a huge asset in the network of contacts."
Working for NTDP position isn't just a job, it's a launching pad. The last five assistant and chief player personnel directors all moved on to NHL jobs. Last week, NTDP coach John Wroblewski was hired by Ontario of the American Hockey League, a Los Angeles Kings affiliate, and fellow NTDP coach Seth Appert was hired by Rochester, the Buffalo Sabres' AHL farm team.
Braceful said he's grateful to Wroblewski and Appert for giving him the opportunity to do more than what his NTDP job description entails.
"Here are two high-level coaches who respect me, taught me a lot, allowed me to learn from them," he said. "I'm sitting in on coaches' meetings, they're allowing me to have dialogue. They allowed me to go on ice for practices. They understand that I've been in the game for a while, I have a passion. They allowed me to be part of things that I'm not sure a lot of coaches would have done."
Braceful hopes to follow them into the pros someday soon.
"I want to work with the best players and best management and coaches in the world, and that's the NHL," he said. "My aspirations will always be the NHL and I think I can bring value to an organization, 100 percent."
Vanbiesbrouck, who played 882 NHL games for the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils, thinks that it's only a matter of time for Braceful.
"I see him wanting to manage a team someday, becoming a general manager possibly, in the NHL," Vanbiesbrouck said. "He's got a great command with people. The nuances of the NHL side of things having to do with the inner workings of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, those things can be learned fairly quickly. I think his way, his demeanor with people and being able to lead is something he'll mature into."