DAVE BROWN ON HIS CAREER -- THEN AND NOW

DAVE BROWN ON HIS CAREER -- THEN AND NOW

By: Matthew Blittner

Dave Brown, former enforcer for the mid-1980s Flyers and Stanley Cup winning Edmonton Oilers, sat down with yours truly to discuss his career and how the game of Hockey compares between then and now.

Brown also gives some insight into what his responsibilities are as the Head Pro Scout for the Philadelphia Flyers.

COMPARE HOCKEY TODAY TO WHEN YOU PLAYED: “I played from 1982-1996. When I played there was a lot more hooking, holding and hitting. The game is faster now than it was then. As far as when I played there was a lot more fighting and players that played the game had to play a different kind of game. Your body had to be more maturity because you were going to be challenged more physically. The game now is a lot faster since there are not as many obstructions.”

TOUGHEST PLAYER AND TEAM TO PLAY AGAINST: “I can't really pick one, every team had tough guys on them, and they were all equal in a lot of ways, and you had to meet them no matter what. It was pretty constant, you had to be ready to fight in any given game. When I was in Philadelphia in 1987, we played the Oilers in the Final and went to Game 7. From my side that was probably one of the best teams ever assembled, with Messier and Gretzky. A couple of years later I got traded to them (1990). They were tough player wise as well as teamwise. Fighting wise, we always had battles with the bruins, really any team in the Patrick Division was tough. The Rangers, Washington, Devils, they were all tough.”

FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE COACHES: “Loved playing for Glen Sather. He was probably the best bench coach I ever played for. He knew who was playing well and who wasn’t. He had the best feel for his players. Mike Keenan, he was hard on his players but he got a lot out of them. John Muckler, with edmonton was technically, maybe, the best coach I ever played for. I didn’t really have anybody I didn’t like playing for. When your teams are winning it’s a lot of fun. There’s no one I didn’t like.”

FAVORITE TEAM YOU PLAYED ON: “The 1990 Edmonton Oilers because we won the Stanley Cup, ‘90-’91. My second favorite would be when I broke in with the Flyers, from 1984 through the next three years. It was the first time I played in the NHL. Those were probably the most memorable for me. The Oilers cup winner was the best.”

MOST MEMORABLE GAME: “I have to really think about that one. Maybe in 1987 when we went to the Finals against the Oilers. We best them 3-2 in Game 6 to push the series to Game 7. We had been down 3-1 in the series. Especially in our own building to win Game 6 was awesome. They thought they had us and then we came back to force a Game 7.”

THOUGHTS ABOUT REDUCTION OF FIGHTING: “The game was going that way anyways. They were going to have trouble selling the game. By today's standards it was violent. They wouldn’t have been able to expand the way they have today if it wasn't cleaned up. Back in the day a third or fourth line guy on a team that was down would go and try to change the momentum by fighting. You can’t do that anymore today.”

FIGHT YOU’LL NEVER FORGET: “No fight really ever stood out to me. I only fought to try to help us win the game. If it wasn’t go to help us I wasn’t going to fight. I would like to say though, that I believe I came out on top more than 50% of the time.”

THOUGHTS ON YOUR JOB AS HEAD PRO SCOUT: “I try to enjoy the game still. I love going to the game and preparing for it. We travel so much that I try to enjoy every little moment. It’s all really preparing for the game. When I go upstairs for the drop of the puck there’s still that excitement. My team’s goal is to win the Stanley Cup and we hope to make a run at it. I’ve been scouting with the Flyers since 2006, but I was back and forth with them before that. My job is to know all the players in the league, but nothing really stands out. It’s just information gathering for our team. Our goal is to continue to get better, and hopefully we will.”