It's hard to imagine that a slow August day of fishing would be the starting point for a hockey whirlwind that propelled a New England prep player into national prominence.
Jay O’Brien of Hingham, Mass., was casting for stripers with his hockey bud Luke McInnis (also from Hingham) when he saw his iPhone light up. It was a text from area code 719, Colorado Springs, and O’Brien’s heartbeat picked up the pace. USA Hockey operations director Marc Boxer might as well have been Santa Claus dropping off a much-awaited gift. "Congratulations, you made the Prospects Game." The two teens clinched in an emotional bro-hug. McInnis knew exactly how O’Brien felt — he had been selected one year prior, and ended up scoring the game-winning goal.
The All-American Prospects Game in Buffalo is a premier showcase for NHL draft-eligible players in the U.S. "Getting that text was pretty nice," said O’Brien, a Thayer Academy senior and the top returning prep scorer in New England. "It was something that was on my mind, something I wanted to make." Forty-two Americans made the 2017 game, the majority from the USHL and USA Hockey’s national team in Michigan. Only two New England prep players made it — O’Brien and Jordan Harris (Haverhill, Mass.) of Kimball Union.
Back on Sept. 20, O’Brien, who plays center, got onto the 90-minute flight to Buffalo, jetting off to the event that would dramatically change his hockey profile. He had flown to Buffalo several times for USA Hockey select camps, but instead of heading north to the suburbs of Amherst to stay at the SUNY Buffalo dorms, Jay and his family shot west into downtown Buffalo, checked into a luxury hotel, to playing in an NHL venue on national television. The Northtown Hockey Center in Amherst lies 15 miles from the Sabres’ Key Bank Center, but for O’Brien, it might as well have been 15 light years.
Jay had never played for Team USA, and he was surrounded by players who lived in the Red, White and Blue. One couldn’t blame the 17-year-old O’Brien if he spent the two days in Buffalo wideeyed and just happy to be there. USA Hockey NTDP coach Seth Appert ran the lines for O’Brien and Team Chelios, and he tried to get a read on his center. "He’s playing prep school, but in the fall he’s coming from Midget hockey," said Appert. "Pretty much all the guys are either playing for the national team or the USHL — that’s a big jump."
O’Brien quietly went about his business at the start of the game, winning draws and possession battles, getting used to his surroundings. "The first couple of shifts, everyone is trying to feel it out," said O’Brien. Then he took off the training wheels and shifted gears. Appert spotted it immediately on the bench. "All of a sudden in the middle of the second period, he kind of had that look in his eye — I can do this," said Appert.
If there is one play that is emblematic of O’Brien’s arrival on the national stage, it was when he came down on Michigan freshman Quinn Hughes, juked inside at the top of the circle, then left the Wolverine flat-footed as he dashed around wide on his backhand, untouched. He returned the puck to his forehand and closed in on goaltender Jake Kucharski at top speed. Rather than opt for a slowmotion tuck between Kucharski’s legs, he powered wide to jam the puck far side. Credit Kucharski with a big-league save, getting his pad on the puck and beating O’Brien in what looked like an NHLcaliber play. "Really, really strong offensive play by O’Brien," broadcasted E.J. Hradek to the NHL Network audience.
"When he came back to the bench I gave him a hard time," said Appert with a smile. "Why did it take me half the game to realize how fast you are?" The prep-school kid had become impossible to ignore on a sheet filled with America’s best future pros. "He was one of the most effective kids out there in the second half of the game," said Appert.
O’Brien began to pile up scoring chances, then got even with Kucharski by burying a wrist shot over his glove. "I ripped it, and it was lucky enough to go in," said O’Brien in the giddy postgame. Writers from national outlets realized he had become a story and began peppering him about all the scouts in the building. "It was nice to be on the big stage," said O’Brien. "But I’m not playing for the scouts. I just love to play hockey." He proceeded to talk about his linemates ("my lineys") and how much fun he had ("a blast") and how he plays with a smile on his face ("always do").
And that’s the essence of Jay O’Brien: He loves to play, loves to win, loves to put in the work. Elite teenage prospects have their lives change incredibly rapidly as they head off to college, and a cascade of big decisions must be made in rapid-fire order. Jay’s USHL rights are owned by Youngstown, which has been leaning on him to come west and play with the big boys. Then shortly after the Prospects Game, USA Hockey lit up Jay’s phone again. Barely a week later, Jay was wearing the red, white and blue for the second time, playing against Notre Dame in an NCAA exhibition for the NTDP U-18 squad, being coached again by Appert. The mission of USA Hockey is to find elite players, and they were now polishing a newly discovered gem.
What makes O’Brien’s case unusual is that his late 1999 birthday makes him ineligible to play in the prestigious IIHF international tournaments, like the Four Nations and the U-18 World Championships. Nevertheless, Appert and the USA Hockey brass thought enough of Jay to play him for five games this fall, and liked what they saw.
"We want to expose as many players as possible that are deserving to wear our country’s jersey," said Appert, after coaching the U-18s to an ECAC weekend split with Dartmouth and Harvard in mid-October. "To give a player like Jay the opportunity that he has earned through his hard work and his performance is just the right thing to do."
O’Brien managed a single goal and an assist in his five games with the national team but he wowed all the hockey insiders. "He’s gone from being known regionally, to being known nationally," said a former NHL scout. Appert did not hesitate when he asked about O’Brien’s upside. "Jay’s going to be an elite Division 1 hockey player," said Appert, who is good friends with O’Brien’s future coach, Nate Leaman of Providence College. Jay will be heading down to Providence after his senior year at Thayer. Appert thinks Jay will continue his steep climb toward the top. "I think he’s a got a chance to be an all-league, All-American-caliber player. There’s a lot of hard work to do along the way."
His prep coach Amonte envisions him in The Show. "Jay seems to have all the aspects of a professional. He wants it bad enough, he puts work in the gym, he shows up to work every day, he leads by example in practice." It’s O’Brien’s work ethic that helped create a hockey player that is just so damn tough to play against.
Working out at with veteran trainer Brian McDonough is now a way of life for O’Brien, and McDonough sees a dedication and maturity in O’Brien that is rare for teenage prospects.
"Jay doesn’t have a lot to say; he always shows up ready to work," said McDonough, who runs Edge Performance Systems in Foxboro, Mass. McDonough was blown away when O’Brien returned from his fourgame USHL stint and gave up his spring lacrosse season to change his body in the gym. "A lot of kids would have wanted to play lacrosse, hang out with their buddies, be on the bus," said McDonough. "He saw a glaring need to extend his off-season training so that he could get stronger, could get more explosive. It was a very mature decision on his part."
All those hours with McDonough have given O’Brien classic hockey strength, turning him into a tenacious forechecker and a winning bet in every 50-50 puck battle. "He’s a strong six feet now," said a former NHL scout "and is a beast at the point of attack."
McDonough and his staff made a point of watching the Prospects Game and focused on Jay. "He went on to have a phenomenal game," said McDonough. "He’s a lot more explosive, a lot more physical, a lot more aggressive on the puck. That was all him. I put together the program, and he executed it."
O’Brien turned 18 on Nov. 4. He signed his letter of intent to play with Providence five days later, and is clearly his own man. After sampling the USHL with Youngstown last spring, and getting pressured by hockey "experts" to play in America’s only Tier 1 junior league, he chose to stay close to home and play prep hockey for Thayer.
"I sat down by myself and just wrote down the positives and negatives," said O’Brien. He admitted that the USHL was a bigger stage. "Youngstown was a great experience, like wearing suits to the game and preparing, watching video. You don’t have that in prep." But what may have been the deciding factor was the massive amounts of time spent on the bus. Last spring, Jay took a 900-mile USHL road trip from Youngstown to Omaha. "We had a 16-hour bus ride; you go to bed in one state and wake up in another, you’re not sleeping great. If you’re going to college next year, you get bigger, stronger and faster," said O’Brien. "Prep is better for my development because I’ll be able to be in the gym, get eight or nine hours of sleep a night, eat right and train right. And there’s something about going to class, and seeing your buddies at the game, the whole atmosphere, it’s something special."
Thanks to the opportunity provided by USA Hockey, Jay has played five games with Team USA’s U-18 national team, three against NCAA competition, including a 3-0 win over Dartmouth in which he was described as one of the most impressive offensive players on the ice. He admits he is living a hockey-blessed life. "It’s pretty cool going from Thayer Academy on a Thursday afternoon, then being at Dartmouth Friday night. The rink was very green, all the rich history. I was taping my stick on the bench and looked up at the NHL board and saw Ben Lovejoy (Canaan, N.H.), his picture was up there. He won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh."
O’Brien and Team USA linemates Jake Goldowski and Erik Middendorf generated half a dozen grade-A chances on this memorable night in Hanover, the club’s first win over a Division 1 program this season. It was boys against men, and the boys won. "We’re a bunch of 16-17-year-olds playing against 20-, 24-year-old men," said Appert. "To have it come against a strong, hard Dartmouth team was a lot of fun. Our guys gained a little confidence from it."
The even-keeled O’Brien let his dreams run as he stepped into the cool night under the New Hampshire starscape. "We’re 16-, 17-year-old kids and wow — we just beat a Division 1 team. We shut them out, too, which was awesome." Jay then returned to his pragmatic self. "It was cool knowing I can make plays, play my game, how it translates at the college level. I’m just 12 months away from my first game at Providence, I’ve got that much time to get bigger and stronger. It just makes you want to play college hockey that much more."
The next night, Jay played against former Dexter School teammate Ryan Donato (Scituate, Mass.) and lifelong hockey bud Reilly Walsh (Andover, N.H.) at Harvard, exchanging long hugs in the handshake line. By Sunday he was back home with his laptop open, banging out his Thayer homework. He realizes how fortunate he is. "Not many kids are able to do this, travel back and forth playing against Notre Dame, Harvard and Dartmouth. It’s pretty cool." O’Brien’s opportunity is not an act of charity by USA Hockey. He has shown up every night and made plays for the national team. "Every game he’s played well," said Appert. "He’s played with us five games and has created multiple offensive chances each game."
Hockey dreams present themselves as if on a speedy assembly line for hot teenage prospects — Division 1 signings, world junior camps, the NHL draft; it’s a wonder O’Brien’s head doesn’t spin off. He remains grounded by a solitary goal, the same one Dartmouth’s Lovejoy got to live out. "My dream is to win the Stanley Cup. You watch NHL Network, and the interviews with the guys that just won, they can’t even put it into words. That’s been my big dream, to win the Stanley Cup, and I’m going to stick with it."
Amonte likens O’Brien to another center with three Cup rings. "I’m not saying he’s going to be Jonathan Toews, but the way Jay plays — great offensively but very responsible in the defensive end — it’s a very similar style to how Jonathan Toews plays the game."
O’Brien’s chosen route to his own Cup dream goes through Braintree, playing for Thayer with best pals like Aidan McDonough (Milton, Mass.), who will join Jay in Hockey East for Northeastern next year. Most scouts expect elite prospects to play Tier 1 junior prior to the draft, but USA Hockey’s Appert does not think Jay will be at a disadvantage. "He’s going to play for a great coach and former player like Tony Amonte," said Appert, "who’s going to relay a lot of lessons he’s learned in his career on him. I know that path is going to work for Jay because his work ethic is so high."
Then Appert borrowed a line from his longtime friend, Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill. "The player makes the path; the path doesn’t make the player.
