Dupont cherishing time in hockey

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This article was published 30/07/2019 (2439 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brodie Dupont knows he’s closer to the end of the line than the start, and he isn’t about to take another minute for granted.

The 32-year-old hockey player from St. Lazare, a married father of two, is set to embark on the 13th year of his professional career when his upcoming season begins in Denmark. He still loves going to the rink every day, and is acutely aware that it won’t last forever.

“Things are going to change and I can’t even envision my life without it right now,” Dupont said. “It’s one of those things that you don’t want to take for granted but when you’re younger, it’s whatever. In junior and my first four or five years pro, I probably took it all for granted. You’re having the time of your life and you don’t even realize it.”

Dupont came up through the Yellowhead Chiefs program, playing his final year of AAA midget in Shoal Lake in 2002-03. He jumped to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Swan Valley Stampeders for the 2003-04 season, and also made his Western Hockey League debut with the Calgary Hitmen, the team he would spend the next three seasons with and pile up 149 points in 214 regular season games.

“My game has evolved quite a bit since then,” said Dupont, who was a rugged, physical player when he broke into the league. “I started in Calgary playing that way. I always liked to play the game with the puck and find ways to make yourself work within the team and playing ruggedly was a way for me to get noticed more and perhaps get a little more ice time … But as hockey has evolved, not that I don’t still check and play hard physically, but the game is all about speed and all about puck possession and keeping the puck and trying to score goals.

“You have to adapt to the times or you’re going to be on the outside looking in. I’ve shifted my focus to trying to get a quicker shot and trying to think the game quicker and study the game more.”

Dupont said he liked the pace in the WHL and the pro approach to the game. The 72-game schedule he was part of during his WHL career also helped.

“It’s a loaded schedule so you get used to that and the travel and trying to prepare your body and your mind appropriately to bring it as many nights as you can,” Dupont said. “It teaches you the mental aspect. There are so many games that come right after another that you can’t ride the highs and you can’t ride the lows. That’s probably the biggest thing that the Western Hockey League taught me.”

Dupont said he was fortunate to play in Calgary because their respective ice times were staggered and he was able to watch the Flames a lot in practice and prior to games.

In 2005, Dupont was drafted in the third round by the New York Rangers.

After graduating from Calgary following the 2006-07 season, Dupont spent the next three seasons with the American Hockey League’s Hartford Wolf Pack.

He was called up to the Rangers during the 2010-11 season after he was reached by phone in a movie theatre.

“I was really excited and kind of in awe, but at the same time you have a job to do,” Dupont said of the news. “You’re fighting for a spot now. It evolved pretty quickly. I flew out in the morning and got scratched. I travelled with the team from Carolina to Atlanta to Washington and then back to New York.”

He spent four games with the team, playing in Atlanta on Jan. 22, 2011. He had seven shifts, spending five minutes and 34 seconds on the ice.

Then the all-star break hit, and Dupont and a couple of other guys were sent back to the AHL’s Connecticut Whale.

Dupont was never called up again, and the Rangers dealt him to the Nashville Predators on July 2, 2011.

“I felt they were trading me to an organization with opportunity for me and my window was probably now,” Dupont said. “I ended up tearing my Achilles tendon in the offseason training so things didn’t work out in the organization in Nashville as well as I wanted them too.”

When the lockout came, Dupont spent the 2012-13 season in Italy, a move he now suggests was the wrong one because the league wasn’t quite as strong as advertised, and transfers to better teams and leagues were unlikely.

He started the 2013-14 season with the Wolf Pack back in the AHL because of his previous relationship with the team’s management, but when an opportunity to play in the top league in Germany with the Iserlohn Roosters presented itself, he went there for three years.

He said the biggest change was coming back to North America.

“You’re always going to have that adjustment because you have less time and space because you’re on a smaller ice surface and the guys are bigger and faster,” Dupont said. “When you put those things together, that’s even less time and space. The puck possession game, I guess the theory of that goes back to the Soviets. It’s kind of their game but it’s evolved so much globally … that most countries, they play a similar type of hockey now and you can see that on the world stage.”

He said there are still some differences, especially with zone entries based on the forecheck in North America and carrying the puck over the blue-line in Europe.

After returning to North America for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, Dupont spent last season with Dornbirner in Austria and will skate with Herning in Denmark this year.

Dupont and his wife Kayleen, who live in the summer in Hampton, N.B., will travel to Denmark with daughter Kaydie, 3, and son, Braydie, 2.

“Unless you’re in the NHL, even in the minor leagues in North America, you’re playing for a contract,” Dupont said. “If you still have a passion to play and you want to play, the pressure is there from when you step on the ice in AAA midget or even in bantam trying to impress the bantam scouts. That pressure just sits there and doesn’t go away, because we get paid and rewarded based on what we do, usually based on the previous year. That pressure is always there, so you just learn to deal with it and make sure you play with confidence.”

Dupont said one of the tricks of getting older is that you have to manage your expectations because the players around you are constantly getting younger.

He’s been remarkably fortunate with injuries, with a minor shoulder injury and the Achilles issue over his long career, with both suffered in training.

He keeps tabs on Yellowhead and Swan Valley through his parents Martin and Norma, although he admits he’s busy with his own hockey and his children.

“I have a passion for hockey, bottom line,” Dupont said. “Everybody that I speak to, I say listen. Whether a coach is recruiting me or I’m trying to get a job or I’m just talking to my wife, I say when I stop loving hockey, obviously I just need to stop playing. I couldn’t imagine going to the rink every day or moving my family halfway across the world for something I didn’t love to do anymore because there’s a big toll on them as well. It’s a big ask on their end.”

He hopes to coach after he’s done because he said the game remains a passion.

Dupont hasn’t been home to St. Lazare in a few years, in part because with all the travel the family already does during the season, it’s hard to get home too.

St. Lazare has turned out two players who saw action in the NHL. Dave Chartier, a former Brandon Wheat King who played for three full seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings from 1979 to 1982, also saw action in a single NHL game.

“I take a lot of pride in living that dream,” Dupont said. “I’m proud to represent St. Lazare and proud to be in that small class. We combined for two games total, so that’s a dandy, but we got there. It’s one of those things that I was blessed to be able to spend all my time at the rink and be able to do what I love.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson

A statistical look at the 2018-19 season for graduates of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings and Westman area hockey players who played professionally.

Compiled by Brandon Sun hockey writer Perry Bergson from eliteprospects.com, hockeydb.com and league and team websites. Please email Perry with any omissions at pbergson@brandonsun.com so they can be added to the list for next year.

FORMER BRANDON WHEAT KINGS

SKATERS

GP G A P PM

•Keith Aulie, 30, D

Munich, DEL 51 4 7 11 78

Playoffs 18 1 0 1 16

Champions HL 12 0 1 1 16

•Milan Bartovic, 38, LW

Dukla Trencin, Slov 54 15 25 40 8

Playoffs 6 2 0 2 0

•Alessio Bertaggia, 25, RW

HC Lugano, Switzerland 41 7 9 16 38

Playoffs (Lugano) 4 0 2 2 4

Swiss national team 4 4 0 4 0

•Daryl Boyle, 32, D

Munich, Germany 45 4 9 13 12

Playoffs 18 1 3 4 6

Champions HL 12 1 1 2 4

•Nick Buonassisi, 27, C

Pergine, Italy 25 13 21 34 22

Playoffs 3 0 1 1 2

•Rihards Bukarts, 23, LW/RW

Schwenninger, Germany 42 9 13 22 14

Latvia (Worlds) 7 0 3 3 4

Latvia (International) 11 0 4 4 4

•Dustin Byfuglien, 34, D/RW

Winnipeg, NHL 42 4 27 31 69

Playoffs 6 2 6 8 4

•Matt Calvert, 29, LW, Brandon

Colorado, NHL 82 11 15 26 58

Playoffs 8 0 4 4 18

•Kale Clague, 21, D

Ontario, AHL 52 7 22 29 34

•Andrew Clark, 31, LW, Brandon

Innsbruck, Austria 52 20 49 69 44

•Tyler Coulter, 22, LW

Tyringe (Sweden) 20 12 12 24 25

Kristianstads (Sweden) 2 2 0 2 0

Playoffs (Kristianstads)14 1 1 2 10

•Mark Derlago, 33, LW, Brandon

Esbjerg, Denmark 36 17 18 35 18

Playoffs 7 3 4 7 0

•Reid Duke, 22, C

Chicago, AHL 44 7 9 16 33

•Darian Dziurzynski, 28, LW

Kansas City, ECHL 69 27 21 48 73

Playoffs 7 2 1 3 4

•Dallas Ehrhardt, 26, D

Manchester, UK 60 16 31 47 82

Great Britain 7 0 0 0 0

•Macoy Erkamps, 23, D

Brampton, ECHL 21 1 5 6 21

Wilkes-Barre, AHL 24 0 4 4 39

•Eric Fehr, 33, RW

Minnesota, NHL 72 7 8 15 30

•Micheal Ferland, 27, LW, Brandon

Carolina, NHL 71 17 23 40 58

Playoffs (NHL) 7 0 1 1 18

•Jesse Gabrielle, 21, LW

Atlanta, ECL 25 5 10 15 38

Wichita, ECHL 11 4 2 6 2

CBR, Australia 4 10 5 15 2

•Hampus Gustafsson, 28, LW

Stjernen 21 9 13 22 10

Frisk Asker, Norway 21 11 15 26 16

Playoffs (Frisk Asker) 18 8 9 17 35

•Travis Hamonic, 28, D

Calgary, NHL 69 7 12 19 33

Playoffs (NHL) 5 0 0 0 2

•Jayce Hawryluk, 23, C/RW

Florida, NHL 42 7 5 12 16

Springfield, AHL 31 8 24 32 64

•Marek Kalus, 25, LW

Orli Znojmo, Austria 50 28 30 58 45

Playoffs 5 1 2 3 11

•Tanner Kaspick, 21, C

San Antonio, AHL 46 4 4 8 24

Tulsa, ECHL 6 0 1 1 4

Playoffs (Tulsa) 18 3 2 5 20

•Morgan Klimchuk, 24, LW

Stockton, AHL 17 3 5 8 8

Toronto, AHL 13 2 0 2 21

Belleville, AHL 8 4 1 5 4

•Rob Klinkhammer, 32, LW

Ak Bars Kazan, KHL 57 19 5 24 79

Playoffs 4 1 0 1 8

•Ty Lewis, 21, RW

Colorado, AHL 51 8 11 19 32

Utah, ECHL 7 5 8 13 4

Playoffs (Utah) 5 0 3 3 4

•Quintin Lisoway, 23, C/LW

Rapid City, ECHL 19 1 1 2 6

Wichita, ECHL 4 0 1 1 0

Fort Wayne, ECHL 6 1 1 2 4

•Mark Louis, 32, D/RW

Cardiff, UK 60 3 10 13 105

Playoffs 4 0 1 1 4

•Tim McGauley, 23, C

Colorado, AHL 23 2 6 8 2

Utah, ECHL 39 14 14 28 31

Playoffs (Utah) 3 4 0 4 0

•Jens Meilleur, 26, RW

Kassel, Germany 2nd 52 15 20 35 32

Playoffs 3 2 1 3 2

•Bruno Mraz, 22, C

Olomouc, Czech 42 5 6 11 26

Playoffs 1 0 0 0 0

Havirov, Czech2 1 0 0 0 0

•Richard Mueller, 37, RW

Kassel, Germany 2nd 52 26 25 51 24

Playoffs 3 2 2 4 2

•Richard Nejezchleb, 25, LW/RW

Nove Zamky, Slovakia 39 6 5 11 48

Playoffs 2 0 0 0 0

Nove Zamky B, Slovakia 1 0 1 1 0

Relegation 1 0 0 0 2

•Dmitri Osipov, 22, D

Indy, ECHL 66 1 12 13 48

Rockford, AHL 8 0 2 2 13

•Nolan Patrick, 20, C

Philadelphia, NHL 72 13 18 31 27

•Carter Proft, 24, LW

Lowen Frankfurt, Ger 2nd 52 15 22 37 66

Playoffs 15 3 12 15 44

•Ivan Provorov, 22, D

Philadelphia, NHL 82 7 19 26 32

•Ryan Pulock, D, 24, Gilbert Plains

NY Islanders, NHL 82 9 28 37 22

Playoffs 8 0 1 1 4

•John Quenneville, 23, C/W

New Jersey, NHL 19 1 0 1 4

Binghamton, AHL 37 18 21 39 41

•Peter Quenneville, 25, C/RW

Sparta Sarpsborg, Norway 40 20 30 50 28

Playoffs 6 3 3 6 0

•Brent Raedeke, 29, C

Adler Mannheim, Ger 2nd 22 4 3 7 33

Playoffs 4 0 0 0 2

•Toni Rajala, 28, RW

Biel-Bienne,Switzerland 50 27 21 48 36

Playoffs 12 5 1 6 2

Finland (World Cup) 10 1 4 5 2

Finland (International) 20 3 8 11 4

•Ryan Reaves, 32, RW

Vegas, NHL 80 9 11 20 74

Playoffs 7 0 0 0 17

•Colby Robak, 29, D

Sport, Finland 29 0 9 9 41

•Eric Roy, 24, D

Allen, ECHL 8 1 3 4 0

Wichita, ECHL 30 2 3 5 20

Norfolk, ECHL 25 4 9 13 0

•Sami Sandell, 32, LW

Davos, Finland Injured — DNP

•Brayden Schenn, 27, C

St. Louis, NHL 72 17 37 54 40

Playoffs 26 5 7 12 14

•Braylon Shmyr, 21, LW

Allen, ECHL 64 20 24 44 23

Springfield, AHL 1 0 0 0 0

San Antonio, AHL 2 0 0 2 0

•Juraj Simek, 31, LW

Geneve-Servette, Switz 26 2 1 3 4

Playoffs (Lugano) 6 1 1 2 0

Swiss Cup (Gen-Ser) 2 0 0 0 0

•Mark Stone, 27, RW

Ottawa-Vegas, NHL 77 33 40 73 27

Playoffs 7 6 6 12 2

Canada (Worlds) 10 8 6 14 0

•Kevin Sundher, 27, C

Allen, AHL 8 0 1 1 0

•Alexander Urbom, 28, D

Djurgardens, Sweden 44 1 4 5 22

Playoffs 14 0 0 0 2

Champions HL (Djur) 3 0 0 0 2

•Nick Walters, 25, D

Kassel, Germany-2 48 1 7 8 36

Playoffs 3 0 1 1 0

•Evan Weinger, 21, RW

San Jose, AHL 60 11 11 22 16

Playoffs 4 2 2 4 0

•Dario Winkler, 22, C/RW

Salzburg 47 4 8 12 8

Playoffs 2 0 0 0 0

•Nolan Yonkman, 38, D

JVP, Finland 32 0 4 4 64

GOALTENDERS

GP W-L-OT GAA Pct.

•Ty Rimmer, 27

Kitzbuheler, Swiss 29 12-16-1 3.20 .921

Wichita, ECHL 12 2-9-1 3.20 .882

Cincinnati, ECHL 6 4-1-1 3.20 .889

•Logan Thompson, 22

Adirondack, ECHL 8 2-4-1 2.72 .918

Binghamton, AHL 1 0-1-1 5.03 .815

OTHER WESTMAN PLAYERS

SKATERS

GP G A P PM

•Brodie Dupont, 32, LW, St. Lazare

Dornbirner, Austria 51 11 24 35 26

•Joel Edmundson, 25, D, Brandon

St. Louis, NHL 64 2 9 11 68

Playoffs 22 1 6 7 10

•Josh Elmes, 25, D, Brandon

Rapid City, ECHL 59 5 14 19 73

Fort Wayne, ECHL 14 1 4 5 17

Playoffs (Fort Wayne) 6 0 1 1 2

•Justin Falk, 30, D, Snowflake

Colorado, AHL 8 1 1 2 6

Ottawa, NHL 10 0 0 0 11

Belleville, AHL 18 1 4 5 10

•Morgan Geekie, 21, Strathclair

Charlotte, AHL 73 19 27 46 22

Playoffs 19 8 10 18 6

•Cody McLeod, 34, LW, Binscarth

New York, NHL 31 1 0 1 60

Nashville, NHL 7 0 0 0 7

•Carson McMillan, 30, RW, Brandon

Fischtown, Germany 52 8 9 17 14

Playoffs 3 0 0 0 0

•Alex Plante, 30, D, Brandon

Anyang Halla, Asia 33 1 4 5 62

Playoffs 4 0 1 1 4

South Korea (Worlds) 5 0 2 2 4

•David Robertson, 24, D, Boissevain

Macon, SPHL 2 0 1 1 2

•Travis Sanheim, 23, D, Elkhorn

Philadelphia, NHL 82 9 26 35 22

•Brock Trotter, 32, LW, Brandon

Dornbirner, Austria 42 14 41 55 40

•Riley Weselowski, 30, D, Pilot Mound

Rapid City, ECHL 60 8 12 20 62

Florida, ECHL 8 0 0 0 11

Playoffs (Florida) 15 1 2 3 6

•Ryan White, 31, C, Brandon

Manitoba, AHL 27 5 2 7 57

Zach Whitecloud, 22, Sioux Valley

Chicago, AHL 74 6 22 28 52

Playoffs 22 3 12 15 11

HEAD COACHES (NHL):

W-L-OT Placing

•Barry Trotz, 56, Dauphin

NY Islanders 48-27-7 2nd Metro

Beat Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0 in first round of playoffs. Lost 4-0 to Carolina Hurricanes in second round.

(Other pro leagues)

•Derek Laxdal, 53 (former Wheat King)

Texas, AHL 37-31-4-4 6th Central

Missed playoffs

•Dan Tetrault, 39 (former Wheat King)

Rapid City, ECHL 30-33-5-4 6th Mountain

Missed playoffs

•Glen Hanlon, 62, Brandon

DVTK, Hungary 28-29-0 8th Slovak Extraliga

Missed playoffs