DARREN BRADY - DEFENSE, MEMORIES AND AVOCADOS
Lizz Child
Mar 2, 2023If Barracuda defenseman Darren Brady could go back to the beginning of the season and give himself one piece of advice, it would have nothing to do with hockey, but we’ll get to that later. For now, we got back to the beginning of Brady’s hockey journey.
Hockey is a family event. We all know it.
For the now 26-year-old Brady, the journey into hockey began from the stands, watching his cousins play in high school. From there, roller hockey was Brady’s introduction to playing the sport himself.
“Once I was in first grade, I finally made the switch over to ice hockey. The rest is history, really,” said Brady about taking to the ice.
Having tried his hand in net as a goaltender once, Brady remembers thinking he performed as more of a soccer goalie than an ice hockey goalie. His self-assessment of his performance as a netminder?
“I think I let in eight or nine goals. I wasn’t even paying attention back there, so it was not good.”
While a future in the blue paint was never in the cards for Brady, the blue line was a different story. On his first travel team, the coach had asked the kids who wanted to play forward, to which Brady said everybody raised their hand. Of course, next came the question of who wanted to play defenseman and Brady remembers he was the only guy to raise his hand.
“I’ve been playing D ever since.”
It should come as no surprise that Brady describes his own game as “defensively strong”, saying that is something he takes pride in. Of course, his defensive capabilities are not his entire game.
“I take pride in playing hard around my net [and] making sure guys aren’t coming into the net uncontested. I also like to add a little bit of offense. Just try to jump up in the play and make plays happen.”
A Familiar Face
“I know. It’s crazy,” mentioned Brady on playing with fellow Barracuda defenseman Will Riedell. “We literally played together what, seven or eight years ago, and then next thing you know we just land in the same place. We’re in the same hotel room, living with each other for a couple of weeks/months.”
Brady and Riedell played about half of a season playing together as members of the North American Hockey League’s New Jersey Titans. The two signed their professional try-out agreements with the Barracuda earlier this season, with Brady being released and re-signed less than a week later. Riedell signed his PTO agreement with San Jose following Brady’s initial release and the two signed their standard player contracts within a day of each other in February.
Advice
Alright, alright. We are finally getting to that story. If Darren Brady could go back to before the start of the season and give himself one piece of advice, it would be:
“I would definitely tell myself to be more careful cutting avocados.”
Don’t worry, he shared the story as to why.
“That was quite the crazy start [to the season]. I wasn’t able to play the home opener in Idaho because I cut myself with an avocado, pretty bad actually.”
To clarify a bit, Brady did not miss the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads home opener because he cut himself with an avocado, just because of cutting an avocado.
“I was trying to stab the pit of the avocado. I don’t know why I was doing it so aggressively and with the point, but it actually ended up going through my hand, the knife did. It slipped off the pit and then went through here and out there,” explained Brady, while showing the scars on his hand.
On a hockey note, if Brady could go back and tell his child-self a piece of advice when he was starting hockey, he said it would be to just enjoy it.
"It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be sometimes a challenge but you just have to enjoy that process and keep having fun with it. Find a way to have fun.”
He got to have some fun when he was younger too, as he noted that his favorite hockey memory came from a tournament when he was about 12 or 13 years old.
“I got to play in this Québec PeeWee tournament. It was [basically] sold out. 10,000 fans watching us at the age of 12 so that was like, ‘wow, this is what it feels like to play in front of people. I love this. I want to be able to keep playing in front of people all the time.’ So it was kind of motivation for me.”
Get to Know Darren Brady
Walk us through your gameday routine:
Wake up. Make some breakfast. Pretty big breakfast. Get the day started. Then we’ll have our pregame skate. I’ll jump on the ice for a little bit, won’t stay out there too long. Then eat my pregame meal around 12:30/1 o’clock if it’s a 7 o’clock game. Then just try to lay down or take a nap for an hour or two and then head to the rink fairly early.
What’s your go-to pre-game meal?
Pretty boring. It’s literally just grilled chicken, rice and broccoli.
Coffee or no coffee before the game?
I’m a big iced coffee guy. When it’s warmer out and I drink hot coffee, I feel like I’ll just start sweating. I like a little refreshing drink so I like iced coffee or we’ve been drinking some energy drink we’ve got up there. It’s pretty good.
Any pre-game superstitions?
It’s more of just a routine. Trying to stick to a time schedule. I do a pretty extensive warmup. It kind of takes like 45 minutes so I usually stick with that and I go with feel a lot too. Like however my body is feeling. I might need to be stretched more or stuff like that.
Describe your perfect day off:
Perfect day off, we’re talking 70s, sunny, probably on the golf course if my back is feeling well. Just letting my mind be free. Just relaxing. Turning the hockey switch off a little bit.
Top-three music artists that need to be on your playlist:
Well, being from Detroit, I’ve got to go with Eminem. He’s my guy. That’s like pump-up, before-game, type stuff. Other than that, I like a lot of country music. A lot of Morgan Wallen. Chase Rice.
If you could pick your own goal song, what would it be?
Some 80s rock and roll something. Probably something AC/DC. Get the crowd going.
Which teammate has been the best DJ in the room?
There’s only been one really, I think. It’s been Robo. He’s been okay. He’s not quite my style so I usually wear headphones but he’s got a couple of good ones for sure.
Who is the loudest guy in the room?
Loudest guy… There is an easy one for sure. I’ll just stick with the easy one. It’s definitely Adam Raska. Rasky. There’s something about that guy.
What would be on your perfect pizza?
I’m a big everything guy. I like a lot of things. Probably some nice sausage, bacon, mushrooms – I like mushrooms. I don’t mind sardines. Everyone hates sardines seems like, but I don’t mind 'em. Then some onions and green peppers.
If you were a fruit, what fruit would you be and why?
I’ll be an orange. Hard on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside
Say there was a zombie apocalypse. Which three teammates would you want on your squad and what would everyone’s role be?
[Patrick] Sieloff. We’re going to put him on the front line with the artillery. We’ll get him there. We’ll probably get Riedell out there too. He knows his way around. He can be our guy with the map. He’s good with that. I’d probably take Johnny [Luke Johnson] too. I’d probably put him right next to Siels, right in front.
What would your role be?
I’d probably be right up there right next to them, We’ve got each other’s backs.
Would the squad survive?
I think we would make it through it. We’d probably be the last ones standing on earth and then just start our own civilization.
To the fans:
I would say they’ve been great. When we’re winning and we’re scoring and you see everyone up, it’s not always a full house but the select few that are there and always supporting have been phenomenal. They find a way to be loud and supportive of us. Even when we’re down, they’ll be cheering us on and telling us to keep going, so I think that’s awesome. I build off that. I feed off that, so it’s nice.