Corpus Christi, Texas – Growing up in Minnesota, hockey is sport that many take up at a young age.
Corpus Christi IceRays defenseman Connor Brust is one who took up the game early in life and is now enjoying the perks of taking his game to a warmer environment.
In his second season in Corpus Christi with the IceRays, Brust, who has been on skates since the age of 3-years old, is one of the leaders on defense for the team and is honing his craft while enjoying the elements.
The 6-foot-2 defenseman from East Bethel, Minnesota has been excited about hockey since his youth.
“Just watching hockey, obviously in Minnesota there’s a lot of hockey around and my older sister played so I kind of grew up, even before I was 3 at the rink watching her,” Brust said. “I honestly just learned to love the game being at the rink watching her and being around that culture.”
Brust learned in addition to culture how to choose what’s best for him on the ice.
He decided to be a defenseman not because he loved the position, although he does, but because of a reason one might not think of. It’s all because of more ice time.
“My dad told me that you have 12 forwards on the team and usually six defensemen so you get to go out more,” Brust said. “
In 16 games, Brust has scored a goal and added four assists. He has a goal and two assists in his last nine games.
“I would say my defense leads to offense which is my thought process behind it,” Brust said. “
In 58 games last season, Brust scored eight goals and collected 13 assists.
“When I first started, I didn’t know a lot of the kids,” IceRays head coach Sylvain Cloutier said. “Until you get to know them, you sit down and have a coffee with them and chat and get to know what type of personality it is. Brusty came in last year, first year in the North American Hockey League, logged a ton of minutes for us and is a very reliable guy.
Brust’s reliability was more than noticeable to the point of his leadership skills.
“You can see he’s one of our leaders also, you could see it in the dressing room he was taking charge even though he was a first-year guy, and it was a no-brainer wanting him back,” Cloutier said. “Just his personality and the way he conducts himself. We do watch everything they do and how they act and when you act like he does and conducts himself, that’s going to go a long way in his career and in life.”
In terms of his life and career, Cloutier believes Brust can have a successful career.
“I think Brusty can have a long hockey career, the amount of work he puts into it,” Cloutier said. “He always wants to get better, wants to watch video, wants to talk to the assistant coaches and me about stuff. He’s a professional and there’s no reason he can’t have a nice long, successful career.”
Brust believes he’s on the right track in terms of being the player he wants to be.
“I think I’m pretty close to where I want to be, I just got a little bit more to go and I’ll get to where I want to be at the college level,” Brust said. “I don’t think you ever stop learning so I think that’s a big key along with working hard. Those two things go hand in hand.”
A player who has given Brust inspiration over the years is Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby.
“He’s dominant every time he touches the puck, every game,” Brust said.
Brust is enjoying the journey with this year’s team.
“Comparing last year to this year, we just needed to be a tighter group where everyone wanted to work harder with each other and compete,” Brust said. “I think just instilling that from Day One with guys really helped and was part of my job coming in this year.”
Brust, obviously, would like to make it to the NHL, but he’s completely focused on school with some lofty goals outside of hockey.
“I want to be an engineer, so school’s a big part of it too,” Brust said. “Playing hockey would be probably Number 1A and engineering No. 1B.”
Number One now is bouncing back from a rough beginning to the four-game stretch at home.
The IceRays are in their bye week before hosting the Oklahoma Warriors Friday, November 10 and Saturday, November 11 at 7:05 at the American Bank Center
You can watch the games on NAHLTV.com and can also catch them on Brewster Street Radio.
For more info on the IceRays visit goicerays.com.
Corpus Christi defenseman Connor Brust Learned to Love Game Early.
