This article was previously published on StratfordToday.
Is it about being tough? Doing what you’re told by coaches? Picking up a teammate when they need it? Recognizing what needs to be done then going out and doing it?
Yes. The short answer is yes. But what is the question?
Hockey players have a lot of terms for one another – the ones with silky mitts know how to flash some skill, while the dusters need a Swiffer to clean up before they finally hit the ice. And then there are the glue guys: more than a grinder, less than a sniper, and usually the guy coaches and teammates know they can learn on for virtually anything.
Enter Rhyse Brown, the Stratford Warriors’s glue guy. The 19-year-old third-year forward knows what his role is on and off the ice, and he’s good with it.
“One of the things I think it means is getting to know the guys on the team and being super friendly with everyone,” Brown said about his role. “I’m a bit silly and I like getting guys to laugh, but I think there are multiple guys like that on our team. It’s about positive reinforcement, being a decent guy and being part of the leadership group.”
It’s not all about getting yuks from the guys, as Brown admits there are times when he’s got to dish out something other than assists. Constructive criticism goes a long way when you’ve got a seasoned voice on a younger team, and since Brown has been with the Warriors for their last two playoff runs his voice carries a bit more weight.
“When it’s game day, it’s a lot different and more down to the point when I’m chatting up the guys,” he said. “I think my role changes a bit, more to the point where I’m out there leading by example and doing what I know I can do. But if I see a guy out there doing something and making a mistake, I can chat him up and help him make a correction or adjustment. I know what the coaches expect of me, to go out and work hard and grind on the other team – it falls on my shoulders to go to the hard areas and just lead by example.”
Warriors assistant coach Dave Schlitt thinks glue is a great way to describe Brown and has been a great descriptor for him since his rookie season in Stratford.
“He’s a strong piece in the dressing room, even since his rookie year, and it’s just continued throughout his career here,” Schlitt said. “Rhyse has been with us through our championship runs and he knows what it takes to be successful in our league, and he’s great at passing that along to our younger players. He helps us set the standard and the expectations of what to do both on and off the ice.”
There are times when a glue guy is the team’s biggest cheerleader but, like the aforementioned duster, never sees much ice time. Brown isn’t that type; Schlitt said he and the coaches know they can tap him on the back and give him a very specific assignment and not think twice about it.
“Defensively, Rhyse is responsible and he understands what we’re asking him to do when we send him out there,” he said. “He’ll finish his hits, but he’ll also drop and block a shot – it’s all the little things that never show up on the gamesheet that help create a winning culture. As coaches we know we can count on him to go out and be hard to play against every night, shift after shift.”
That kind of sacrifice where you’re throwing your body around in the service of helping the greater good is something Brown doesn’t think twice about. His lack of fear helps him step in front of the hardest of shooters or the biggest of opposing puck chasers … all to help send the action in the right direction.
“I’m a grinder and I know I’m the one going into the corners for a puck battle, and I know I have to give everything I’ve got in the D-zone,” he said. “My role has changed a lot since minor hockey because I think everyone there has a similar skill level and the good players all knew how to score. But when I got here, I learned quickly that wasn’t going to be my role. When you come into junior as a younger player, you need to figure out what you’re good at and adapt quickly. I had to adapt to bigger, stronger guys in my first year, and now I’m that bigger, stronger guy.”
Having a piece like Brown can help a young team mature, and the Warriors have had their growing pains this season. They found their stride last year when the team was in a similar situation coming out of training camp with a lot of talent but not much experience. Last season ended in the league finals with a loss to the eventual Sutherland Cup champion Listowel Cyclones, and this season’s script is still being written, edited and played out.
So what exactly is Brown’s value? Schlitt points at that institutional memory and knows having it on the bench every time the Warriors hit the ice is going to help unlock this team’s potential.
“Knowing what Rhyse has learned and experienced over the last two years – the successful league championship two years ago and then last year’s loss to Listowel – he can take those experiences and translate them for the new guys,” Schlitt said. “He can help the coaches get the younger guys to understand that the process began in August and it’ll take all season to get us to where we want to be. This is something we’ve gone through the last two years and that’s what the league has become, and having veterans like Rhyse who’ve been there before is a steadying influence and voice for our guys.”
Thinking back to last season’s end at the hands of the Cyclones is a tough memory for Brown but he said it feeds him this year and helps drive him to avoid a similar outcome.
“To make a run like we did last year, everything comes down to hard work,” he said. “I know we practice super hard and I believe our practices are the toughest in the league because we’re crawling all over each other. It’s great to see that compete level when it’s just us against each other, so that provides some progression through the whole year and I think it’ll pay off in the playoffs when we know it’s a whole different type of animal. Our division is going to be super tight, but I think we have what it takes to be on top.”
