Hockey is not an easy game, and the effort required to make it in the industry is both mentally and physically taxing. Just ask Brandon Bussi, a product of Sound Beach, N.Y., who persevered through years of obstacles at the junior and midget levels.
Bussi, 23, grew up playing on Long Island for the Royals, Gulls, and PAL Islanders. Now he's the newest member of the Boston Bruins franchise, after signing a one-year, entry-level deal Wednesday following his three-year career at Western Michigan University. He will join Providence for the rest of this season on an amateur tryout.
Bussi started playing junior hockey at age 18 and his career included stops with the New Jersey Titans and Amarillo Bulls in the NAHL, the PAL Islanders in the NCDC, and finally, the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL.
“I was excited to get my junior career going when I was 18, but to be honest, looking back, I probably wasn’t ready for it,” Bussi said. “I thought I was mature enough for the way of life, but it is a totally different structure of hockey. You’re living away from home and it took some time getting used to it.”
In his first two seasons at the junior level, he struggled at finding balance in his play and jumped from team to team, hoping to find consistency. However, Bussi told New York Hockey Journal, he convinced himself to change his habits during the summer of his age-out season and devoted his off time to more intense training with new coaches.
He began working with Stop It Goaltending, run by Brian Daccord, and the decision paid dividends. The Sioux City Musketeers invited Bussi to try out at their main camp, where he performed well but missed the cut. Shortly after camp, he received a call from Ryan Bennett, the general manager of Muskegon at the time, and he offered him a spot on the roster. Bussi accepted the opportunity and ran with it, playing an astonishing 52 games and winning 33 of them.
“All of the experiences in junior hockey were important, and I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything,” Bussi said. “It was definitely challenging. There were a lot of tough times where it got emotional and I felt down on myself. But, I think what brought me through it all was my love for the game. It is all I’ve done since I was a kid, and it is all that I could see myself doing.”
Thanks to a successful year with Muskegon, the big-bodied goalie earned a commitment to Western Michigan University. He was initially tabbed to play for St. Lawrence University, but the fit changed over time, and there was a mutual agreement to go a different path. Bussi says he fell in love with WMU when he visited campus and met the coaching staff. He noticed a route to professional hockey through the Broncos’ culture and player development, so he jumped at the opportunity to sign with the school.
In three seasons at the Division 1 level, Bussi played 77 games and won 46. He beat Northeastern 2-1 in the first round of the NCAA tournament last week before losing 3-0 to Minnesota on Sunday. Bussi was a 2022 Mike Richter Award nominee and had interest from close to 10 NHL teams as a college free agent.
“These have been the best three years of my life, honestly. I chose Western Michigan because I saw pro-development at every position at this school. It is professionally run and the expectation is to give nothing but your best,” Bussi said. “The fans are also unbelievable here. They get you excited to play every Friday at the Lawson (Ice Arena) in front of the Lunatics, and it is an experience that not a lot of college athletes get to experience.”
Bussi’s story is one of perseverance and motivation, and he hopes that young hockey players can follow similar paths to success.
“There are a lot of good hockey players who go through adversity, and all players need to understand that everything you go through in life is put there to help build you up to moments where you can start excelling,” Bussi said. “That is a message I’d like to share because I wouldn’t be where I am today without all of the falls that I’ve had.”
Scouting Report
At 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, Bussi’s size is an asset that sticks out to every NHL club. But despite his stature, the massive netminder is mobile, and he describes his skating as the base of his game. He is athletic and competes to make saves, using his lateral quickness to challenge backdoor plays and react to second or third opportunities. In addition, he finds shots through traffic and displays impressive positioning.
Bussi credits his goaltending coaches at Stop It Goaltending and WMU goalie coach Will Massey for helping calm his game down and teaching him to learn his speed and athleticism in more economical ways.
“As I’ve played in college, I have learned to be more calm in the net. The term we use is 'quiet' in terms of allowing the game to come to me, whereas early on, I tended to be too scrambly and overuse my skating ability, whereas now I allow pucks to hit me, use my size and be a calming presence for my team,” Bussi said.
Projection
With the average size of NHL goaltenders increasing, a netminder of Bussi’s build was sure to draw interest. In addition, there was precedent from the past two seasons of NCAA goalies jumping straight to the pro ranks.
Last season, Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn.) joined the Florida Panthers for four games after a two-year career at Boston College. This season, Jack Lafontaine left the University of Minnesota to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes. Both Knight and Lafontaine ended up in the AHL to earn confidence and playing time.
Given Bussi’s development track, he has the potential to play a starting role and could become a long-time pro netminder. That said, the Bruins are wise to direct Bussi to the minors for seasoning. But a devoted player like Bussi will likely receive a chance in the show.
