Almost exactly a year ago, in late January 2019, Briggs Gammill was carefully taking the ice, three screws holding his ankle together, anxious but eager to get back on the ice and play again.
Gammill, a center for the New England prep school Berkshire Bears, was returning from surgery to repair a broken left ankle suffered in a goalmouth collision. And, depending on your perspective when it comes to healing, the timing of the injury was probably the worst possible scenario: It came on the first practice of the season, the day before the team's first scrimmage of the year.
Either way, there was no downplaying how it felt for Gammill. Reduced to watching practices and games, he also had to pause his lacrosse career and focus on rehab.
"It sucked," said Gammill, 18. "(It) wasn’t a great moment. (I was a) little frustrated because I thought I had a great fall of my junior year playing for Mid Fairfield. But after this, it definitely set me back. There was nothing I could do about it and kind of had to look forward. We had a tough year as a team last year, so this year it was nice to come back and hopefully make something happen."
Gammill wanted to get back last season to helping out the team, of course, but was especially eager to play alongside an older brother, Brooks, who was in his senior year at Berkshire. Skating for the first time last year was a challenge, however.
"It wasn’t easy," he said. "I could definitely feel it on my left foot. I was restricted for certain things. But at the same time, I tried to do what I could do, and I was just happy to be out there at that point and play. That was my last year playing with my brother, so playing a game with him was nice."
Getting into that last game presented a different set of challenges for older brother Brooks: He had an injury of his own, a broken wrist while his younger brother was sidelined, so he had some fast healing to do himself. As it turned out, Brooks did the hockey player thing, playing one shift with his brother with his wrist still healing in a cast, in the last game of his prep school career.
"He broke his wrist against Avon last year, and he sat out while I came back for the first six games," Gammill said, "and then the last game at Berkshire, he decided to take one more shift with me, so that was nice. It was really cool.
"That was a huge motivator for me. We grew up playing. Last time we played together was Mites."
You can't talk to Briggs Gammill without another hockey-playing Gammill working his way into the conversation. Oldest brother Barclay is now the captain at Trinity College. Brooks is at Colby College. Briggs is in his last season at Berkshire, but the Gammill train doesn't stop there: Younger brothers Boden and Bauer (a true hockey name) are on their way, and surely destined to wear the green and black of Berkshire.
Berkshire coach Dan Driscoll has coached all the older Gammills in his 14 years at the school, and sees some of his brothers in Briggs.
"(Barclay is) kind of a natural goal scorer, he’s a guy who saw the play very well," Driscoll said. "Brooks I would say is kind of a heart-and-soul guy, he’s an energy guy, very responsible defensively. Barclay, sometimes you don’t see him, but you look at the scoresheet and he’s got three or four points at the end of the game. Briggs kind of does it at both sides of it, he’s an offensive threat as well as a defensive stalwart.
"Briggs is a combination of both of his brothers, to tell you the truth."
Hockey plays a big enough role for the Gammill family that when everyone returns home on the winter break to New Canaan, Conn., for as long as Briggs can remember on Christmas day they have gathered at the Winter Club with their dad, an uncle and a younger cousin for a game of Gammill shinny. At other times, there's knee hockey.
Gammill said the competitions are "fun," and don't get out of hand: "We used to be very competitive, we are very competitive individuals, but when we get on that Christmas skate our dad is kind of (watching), so we slow it down."
The Bears are 7-6-2 this season, already matching last year's win total (7-18-3), but certainly not where they want to be.
At one point, the Bears won four in a row. But then they followed that a short time later by losing six of seven, including five in a row.
"We started out very strong and then we took a little dip once the new year started," Gammill said, "but I think we have a very good team this year. We proved that at the beginning of the year, so we just need to get back on track and we’ll be good."
Driscoll said having Gammill in the fold from the beginning has made a world of difference.
"We’ve got great leadership in Briggs Gammill, first and foremost," he said. "Defensively, we’ve added a couple of kids who have really allowed us to play the game the way we want to play it. They move the puck really well, they are hard to defend against, keep things simple. A combination of all those things, having Briggs and Aidan Thompson play together is a help. But a lot of it I think is really great leadership by Briggs Gammill."
Not only did the Bears miss his projected 40-50 points, they also missed his character. Even though he would "crutch over" to the rink every day to work out as best he could while rehabbing, nothing replaces having a guy on the ice and on the bench.
"He’s kind of the heart and soul of our group in terms of his leadership, and I think it took our group a while, when you look at our season last year, to gain our collective confidence again," Driscoll said. "And by the time we figured it out, we finished the year really strong. So I think going through that adversity, going through that whole process as a group, playing without Briggs has only made us stronger this year.
"You hope you learn from it, and I think we did. And we gained a greater sense of our own, the team itself had a greater sense of belief in itself, confidence in itself, and it’s paid off for us this year."
Character is an asset, but Gammill's biggest contributions come on the ice.
"He’s a terrific 200-foot player," said Driscoll, who has been in prep hockey for 24 years and celebrated his 400th career win on Jan. 18. "He’s not only a kid who can score and put points up, but he’s an outstanding defensive centerman, he kills penalties for us, we use him in all types of situations. But he thinks the game at a level that is uncommon at both ends of the rink. As a result, he makes the players he plays with better players. He’s responsible, diligent, he’s one of the more upbeat players I’ve had."
With screws still in place, Gammill has 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points in 15 games. But it's about more than points for Gammill, now that he's been given a second chance.
"Personal goal is to lead this team," he said. "This will be my fourth year here, so I’m just kind of excited to be back, enjoy every day, enjoy practice. I talked to Coach Driscoll at the beginning of the year and he just wanted me to embrace everything I have here and what this place has given me, but at the same time give back to this hockey program and hopefully win a New England championship. That’s been our team goal since day one, and we’re hoping we can get on the right foot now and keep going."
Gammill is headed to Yale for the 2021-22 season, deciding to defer his start by playing in the USHL, BCHL or elsewhere in juniors, which will give him back that year he missed because of the injury to work on his game.
"Just the basics, getting faster, stronger, quicker in those corners," he said, "but mostly bear down on my shots, keep getting to that net, and be solid defensively because that’s where my game is. I feel I’m a 200-foot player who can play all different situations, so kind of get into that mindset and focusing on those little details."
His long-term goal for hockey is to live the dream. Driscoll doesn't think the pro game is out of the question.
"I think he’ll get paid to play someday, I really do," the coach said. "I have no idea what level that is, but I think he thinks the game well enough, he competes well enough, he’s skilled enough that he’s in that small upper echelon of kids that hopefully have that opportunity to pursue his dreams after college."
Said Gammill, who's interested in hockey analytics: "I would love to play professional hockey and make a dream come true."
As for the future of Berkshire, it might be in Gammill family hands for some time to come. You'd have to think the school has the inside track on recruiting the two younger brothers.
"I hope so," Driscoll said. "The family is such a great family, the mom and dad have been around campus here eight or nine years from Barclay all the way down to Briggs. It won’t be the same without a Gammill on campus."
Paul Grant is an editor and a writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at pgrant@hockeyjournal.com.
