Brunette on All-Star nod: ‘It’s probably not completely deserved.’ His players disagree
In the middle of their 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, the Florida Panthers were up big and Andrew Brunette, if only for a moment, couldn’t help but let his attention drift from the ice in Sunrise.
On the big screen above Brunette’s head, the Panthers took a moment to honor their interim coach, who was officially named the coach of the Atlantic Division for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game earlier in the day, and the crowd at FLA Live Arena gave him a long ovation. Brunette looked up to the screen, offered up a sheepish half smile and a quick wave of acknowledgment, and then he was back to hockey.
It’s how Brunette, 48, has handled everything since he was abruptly thrust into an interim role during the season’s first month. He knows “it’s an unusual circumstance” — he said as much multiple times Tuesday — and he’s as humble as can be, still taking a day-by-day approach to his first opportunity as coach.
“It’s probably not completely deserved,” Brunette conceded. “It’s how well our group played. I’m just a benefit of how they’ve played all year.”
When Brunette took over, Florida was undefeated, winners of seven straight and probably the best team in the NHL. Almost three months later, the Panthers have won 6 of 7, own the most wins in the Eastern Conference and still are still probably the best team in the league.
He gets to coach the Atlantic team because his Panthers have the best points percentage in the division.
It was always going to be impossible to keep Florida Panthers on the pace former coach Joel Quenneville had them at in the first month in the season — he would’ve had to go undefeated, which was obviously not going to happen — but his job was more complex.
Quenneville, after all, resigned in disgrace in the first month of the season after an external investigation revealed he played a role in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2010 mishandling of sexual assault allegations against a member of the organization. It was the sort of news with the potential to derail a dream season before it really even began and Brunette steered the Panthers through it.
“He truly deserves it,” star defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “He stepped into a situation that’s not so easy and he’s done a great job with it. He’s really given us a chance to succeed with his excitement and passion for the game.”
For Brunette, the recipe for success has been simple and something he has preached since the day he took over: Stay out of the way.
With star forwards Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau leading the way, Florida has the highest scoring offense in the East. With Ekblad and fellow defenseman MacKenzie Weegar on the other end of the ice, the Panthers have one of the most well-rounded rosters in the league.
Quenneville set the foundation by making the initial lineup and Brunette has tried not to stray too far from what his predecessor established. Sometimes, of course, he hasn’t had a choice, especially when injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak left the Panthers severely shorthanded last month. For the most part, though, Florida has looked like the same team from the start of the year until now.
In hockey, sometimes a coach’s motivational ability is just as important, if not more, than his actual tactical acumen. Coaches often speak in cliches because the difference between winning and losing can sometimes be hard to define — beat an opponent to a loose puck here, hustle back on defense there.
Brunette, inarguably, has had the Panthers playing hard since the day he took over in a situation when the team could’ve folded.
It makes for an atypical All-Star resume, but a worthy one nonetheless.
“It was a tough spot to jump into it and he handled it incredibly,” forward Sam Reinhart said. “The guys love playing for him, love going up there on a nightly basis and playing hard for him, so we’re all thrilled in our locker room for that accomplishment.”
