A Jack Adams contender, Andrew Brunette is relishing his shot with the Panthers: Hes loving it

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — If you’re talking about the Florida Panthers, then you do have to talk about Bruno.

Narrowing down the specific details that have brought Andrew Brunette to this stage of his career is a challenge. Does it start with what he has done to be in the Jack Adams discussion? Or is it more about what got him there? Is his story more about the decision to leave the front office to give coaching one last shot, or is it about the path that led him to that choice?

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Maybe it’s all of those things. Perhaps it’s none of them. It’s also possible that Brunette could just be another 48-year-old who avidly watches sports and is secretly fond of how his wife always helps rescue dogs — the latest has become his newest companion whenever they walk those sandy South Florida beaches.

This all seems like a lot, and it is. That’s why we have to talk about “Bruno.”

“I really wanted to find out: Is this something I want to do?” Brunette said. “Do I want to be a head coach in the NHL or was I just happy being an assistant? Do I want to go back to the player personnel side? … I was preparing myself not thinking this would ever come. But trying to gather as much information and get as much experience that if this is what I wanted to do, I’d be prepared for it.”

Brunette was named interim coach Oct. 29, a day after Joel Quenneville resigned following a meeting he had with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman about his connection to the Chicago Blackhawks’ sexual abuse case. Panthers general manager Bill Zito said that promoting Brunette, who was an assistant for two seasons under Quenneville, was a decision that was made within the course of “days and hours.”

GMs typically do interact with their coaching staffs, but they tend to spend more time communicating with the head coach. That was the dynamic between Quenneville and Zito. Still, Zito said there was a level of comfort with Brunette. He knew and had heard about Brunette’s integrity, and that he had already developed a respectful relationship with the players. Another quality Zito appreciated was Brunette’s distinguished playing career, which saw him play in more than 1,100 NHL games.

The Panthers wanted to continue harnessing what they had done — they were off to a 7-0 start — while taking it further. Zito spoke with Brunette and asked if he was sure he wanted the job. Brunette said he did, and Zito ensured him that they would work together to figure everything out.

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When Brunette took over he was met with instant challenges. He went from being a peer among his assistants to overseeing them. While he was learning how to deal with that, he lost captain and star center Aleksander Barkov to injury. Brunette had to adjust the lineup to make up for losing arguably the team’s most important player while also having to navigate who could and could not play because of COVID-19.

“Now he’s coaching. Now he’s winging it, he’s doing this, he’s doing that,” Zito said. “Guys are in, guys are out, we’re playing with seven D. But he’s loving it. You can see that passion for the game and the competitiveness. He’s not a big rah-rah, scream guy. You can see the respect. You can see this guy is a hockey coach. That got us to January, and January was the first time we had some sense of normalcy. It’s like, ‘OK, what do you do?’ ‘Well, I’m an NHL hockey coach and this is my team and we approach things this way.'”

Having spent 16 years in the NHL means Brunette has an affinity for everything the sport offers. He immediately went into the front office after he retired; he was an assistant to the GM with the Minnesota Wild. He did that for two years before becoming an assistant coach with the Wild. Brunette held that post for two more years before returning to the front office for a three-year stint that saw him become an assistant GM. He was the director of player personnel in his final year with the Wild before joining the Panthers.

Brunette is happy he experienced what it meant to work in a front office. For him, the difference between being a coach versus an executive is the day-to-day feeling. As an executive, he was part of the team. But there is a difference between being in meetings and being on the bench to experience it up close. He felt the wins and losses, but they weren’t as euphoric or sharp compared to being a coach. He missed that. He missed the aspect of being in a coaches’ room and rallying together as a group or trying to find the ways they could get better between games.

There are examples of these types of moments the world sees and does not see. One of the moments for all the world to see came when Aaron Ekblad scored on a breakaway in overtime to beat the Carolina Hurricanes. After Ekblad scored, the cameras cut to Brunette giving his assistants a subtle fist bump while a subtle but contained smile spread across his face. TNT color analyst Darren Pang pointed out the look on Brunette’s face, noting how the Panthers pulled their goaltender, scored a late game-tying goal to force overtime and then snatched a win away from the Hurricanes at PNC Arena. As Pang said this, the cameras cut to around 10 Panthers players mobbing Ekblad and the man who set him up, Jonathan Huberdeau, with more teammates waiting to do the same.

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“I missed that raw emotion and that camaraderie,” he said. “I think when I watch our team play or watch us after a win or after big plays and seeing the joys in their faces, I felt what they did. I really believe they care for each other and I’ve been around a lot of teams — they are as close of a team as I’ve ever been around. They, at least, so far, they do not care who gets the credit. They’re just happy. When I see that joy and camaraderie and that kind of team, it makes me feel really good. I am part of it, but I love that they are loving each other and you feel that yourself.”

Brunette has continued to foster an environment in South Florida that stems from what he learned as a player. He played for several coaches throughout his career and credits quite a few for the impact they had. Brunette played for Barry Trotz in the AHL and NHL. He said Trotz taught him what it meant to be a professional while also realizing the game can be fun at the same time. That stuck with Brunette because he played for Trotz in the 1990s, when that type of approach was used sparingly. He said it really meant a lot as a player who went through a difficult period while trying to find a way to stand out en route to becoming a full-time NHLer.

He credits his former Wild coach, Jacques Lemaire, for being “the smartest hockey man I’ve ever been around.” Brunette was an offensive-minded forward who learned the defensive principles Lemaire taught in order to become a two-way player. This is how Brunette learned to play away from the puck while also gaining a stronger feel for what is demanded in the defensive zone.

“I had Ron Wilson for a while, too,” Brunette said. “I really loved his practices and really loved his offensive mind. So I think you listen, you learn and every coach I’ve had has given me something different. I think I was pretty perceptive. My brain works in weird ways but I think I was able to soak up things over the course of all the coaches I’ve had.”

Coaching philosophies aside, who is Brunette away from hockey? He’s someone who always watches sports. He plays fantasy baseball and fantasy football. One of his favorite things is “sitting around and bullshitting about hockey while having a beer.” He plays tennis on the side and plays pickleball with his assistants.

There has to be more, right? What is he watching on TV? Is he secretly a big “House Hunters” fan? Is there something on Netflix he really likes? Or is he really all sports all the time?

“I watch sports all day. My wife gives me shit,” Brunette said. “I watched ‘Ozark’ last night, but I minimized it. I’ll watch one episode and I’ll commit to one hour with her. But last night, I was watching the Canes-Wild game. I was (watching) Vancouver-Toronto. I was watching Warriors-Lakers. I was watching the U.S. and Canada in curling. Again, I am not that complicated. I love watching sports. I love my dog, and we’re at the beach all the time walking with my wife.”

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Ah, so he has a dog. What’s the dog’s name?

“Brewer, like the Milwaukee Brewers,” Brunette said. “And not like (Panthers video coach) Andrew Brewer. Don’t tell him that.”

Going back to Brewer — the dog, not the video coach — she’s a pit bull mix. Brunette and his wife, Lorie, had golden retrievers for several years before their most recent dog died.

“My wife, she’s done this a bunch of times: She thinks it’s a good idea to foster, which is wonderful,” Brunette said. “But her problem is she can’t ever release fosters and all of them we’ve had, we’ve kept.”

The Brunettes had Brewer and her siblings for eight weeks. She was the smallest of the bunch and also had a few health issues. Except Brunette did not know all this until he returned home from a trip with the Panthers only to discover there were dogs who had left, uh, a few organic presents in their home while also barking into the night.

“I think she faked that she was sick because she knew she had a good gig going at our place,” Brunette said. “Her two brothers were adopted and she stuck around. Going from having goldens for a long time — and they’re the best — she’s a totally different personality. She’s really sassy.”

Long walks on the beach with his new best friend. Feeling what it means to win or lose on a more intimate level. Implementing everything he has learned to take over a team from Adams Award-winning coaches while still finding success with his own approach. Then there’s that whole coaching at the All-Star Game thing, while also being at the controls of one of the best teams in the NHL.

All of these items go into the discussion about Brunette being an Adams contender. He would be the first coach in franchise history to capture the award and would also become the fourth recipient to win the award after replacing head coaches who began the season. BetOnline’s odds to start March listed Brunette with 15-to-2 odds to win the Adams. That was fourth behind Darryl Sutter, Gerard Gallant and Mike Sullivan.

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Perhaps the most intriguing item about Brunette’s current situation is what it means to be an interim coach in this current landscape. Three years ago, Craig Berube was an interim coach when he led the St. Louis Blues to the Stanley Cup. Two years ago, Rick Bowness was an interim coach upon guiding the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup Final. Last year, Dominique Ducharme also had the interim tag when he led the Montreal Canadiens on an unexpected run to the Cup Final.

Brunette said he hasn’t even thought about the connection he could potentially share with recent interims.

Speaking of the interim tag, how will the Panthers assess what it could mean to have Brunette at the helm as their head coach given the year he is having?

“The same way everybody else does,” Zito said. “I’m going to take time my time. We have a full year. I’ll just utilize the year and see where it goes and give him all the support that he deserves. I think he’s earned that, and he’s going to get it.”

(Top photo: Joel Auerbach / Getty Images)

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