Sean Brown - Albany River Rats - American Hockey League (AHL) on MLN Sports Zone

Keep Plugging Away
After five seasons in the NHL, Sean Brown is enjoying his time with the AHL’s Albany River Rats and making the most of his time in the minors.

Dan Hickling
MinorLeagueNews.com

01.15.03 - Albany, N.Y. -- You can forgive Sean Brown for feeling just a little befuddled.

You might also be, if your career had taken the similar twists and downturns over the past two years that Brown’s has.

Once a highly praised and sought after defenseman, Brown is currently playing for the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League [AHL].
Sean has found himself back in the minor leagues for the first time since his second pro season.

He has gone from prized prospect, to NHL regular, to the role of a veteran farmhand for the New Jersey Devils, in what seems like the blink of an eye.

The less than favorable turn of events would be enough to wipe the smile off the face of a lesser man, but not Brown's.

He has perspective.

"You keep plugging away," Brown said. " In the big picture of things, something will work out. It beats what a lot of other people are doing (for a living)."

Brown’s outlook was fostered at a young age, and was instilled by his working class parents growing up in Oshawa, Ontario.

A gritty blueliner in juniors, Brown was originally drafted 21st overall by the Boston Bruins back in 1995. Prior to his first professional season, Sean was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers for veteran goalie Bill Ranford.

After establishing himself for 5 NHL seasons with the Oilers, Brown was acquired again by Boston late in 2002, to help the Bruins make their playoff push.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before Brown's star began to fade.

In training camp last year, Sean found himself squeezed out of his defense job when he was asked by then-Bruins coach Robbie Ftorek to play wing on the team's fourth line.

Though Brown had never played forward in his life, he took on the assignment. For a while, as the team roared off to a 19-4-3-1 start, life was good.

Ultimately, as the Bruins hot start went South, Ftorek was eventually fired and Brown did more sitting than playing.

"Last year was tough," Brown said. "I'd never played forward before, but it was something the coach (Ftorek) asked me to do, and of course you're going to do it. That's what hockey's about. Then Robbie got fired and I didn't get into too many games after that."

Feeling that he might benefit from a change in scenery, Brown signed as a free agent with New Jersey.

Cracking the lineup of the Stanley Cup champions proved to be a futile battle, and soon Brown was dispatched up the Hudson River to Albany, NY.

Sean wasn’t jumping for joy at the idea, but neither would he allow himself to sulk.

"Certainly he was disappointed to have to come down here," said Albany Head Coach Dennis "Red" Gendron. "That's only natural."

Gendron is impressed with the way Brown has handled the situation and is happy to have a positive veteran influence come to his young club.

"He's done everything that's been asked of him. He hasn't just sat around in his stall and thought about Sean Brown," Gendron said.

Admitted Brown, "It was important to come down here and not have a chip on my shoulder."

What Brown brought with him was a determination to make the best of the situation. What he has received in return was a role unlike any he'd had before, not to mention all the ice-time he could ever ask for.

"There's a lot of young players here," Brown said. " The veterans here are expected to play a leadership role, which I had never really done, before. I was always the young guy. Now it's my turn to help the younger guys out and lead by example."

This is a role that Brown seems to relish.

"It's been a while since I played a regular shift and it feels so good," Brown acknowledged. "The NHL is an awesome league to play in, but when you're not playing, it gets frustrating. You're not having fun. I don't care where you are. Coming down here has given me a chance to enjoy the game again, and have a lot of fun."

There's that smile, again.