Brett Brochu Shines For Oilers AHL Team
Brett Brochu (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)EDMONTON – Departures grant opportunities.
Opportunities to those who might not otherwise be given them.
The Edmonton Oilers know a thing or two about that right now. With Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl inching toward returning to game action, Jeff Skinner, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Adam Henrique have seen an uptick in ice time and responsibilities.
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Additionally, with Stuart Skinner's injury to contend with, farmhand Olivier Rodrigue received his first taste of the NHL. He performed admirably in a losing cause and requires further evaluation by the coaching staff.
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However, his departure from the Bakersfield Condors meant an opportunity for someone else. Enter Brett Brochu.
Brochu is a 22-year-old goaltender who just played his first game with the Condors. He went undrafted, and worked his way up from the OHL to full-time ECHL goalie.
He has spent two years with the Fort Wayne Komets, the Oilers' ECHL affiliate. In 35 games, Brochu has a 20-10-4 record, a 2.41 goals against average (GAA), a .924 save percentage (SV%), and one shutout.
With that in mind, he was called up to the Condors to show what he could do.
The result? An 8-2 win for the Condors. Brochu stopped 33 of 35 shots fired his way. He earned a .943 SV% and third-star honors for his performance.
After the game, Brochu revealed what it was like to get his first start with the Condors.
“I’m glad that they gave me the opportunity,” Brochu said. “For me, it’s just for me to improve and show that I can play in this league. I haven’t gotten much opportunity here. I’m looking to keep building on this and hopefully get some more starts.”
As far as opportunity goes, this was Brochu’s third-ever AHL game and his first career AHL win. Condors head coach Colin Chaulk talked about the reasons behind starting Brochu over Colin Delia.
“Colin (Delia) hadn’t played a back-to-back and we wanted to see what we had in him,” Chaulk revealed.
The Condors are back in action on Saturday night, playing the Tuscon Roadrunners at home. Puck drop is at 7:00 PM Pacific.
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