New Tiger Brown a black sheep among brothers
Elijah Brown is a bit of a black sheep when it comes to the athletic background of his family, but the new Medicine Hat Tigers forward wouldn’t have it any other way.
The 18-year-old Edmonton product comes from a family of five boys, four of whom put their athletic focus into football. While Brown followed in the footsteps of his siblings — spending a good chunk of his adolescence on the gridiron — he found his true calling on the ice.
“It's a football family but I was fortunate enough to play hockey,” said Brown, adding his entire family will be at the Canalta Centre to watch Saturday’s game against the Prince Albert Raiders at 7:30 p.m. “I played football for like eight years but it came down to a decision. Obviously I love hockey enough to pick it. I love football, but hockey has been my passion.”
The 5-foot-9, 168-pound forward was traded from the Seattle Thunderbirds to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Jan. 9 — in exchange for a second round bantam draft pick this year and a third round pick next year — but he spent the previous two months off the ice after deciding to part ways with the T-Birds.
“I won a championship there and there were some good things that came, but there was a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that unfortunately took the wrong path. But all things happen for a reason and I’m happy to be here,” said Brown. “It was a tough two months. At first getting off the skates, it’s like ‘Whatever, I’m at home so I’ll try to enjoy that a little bit,’ but after a bit you start to miss the game a lot. I love the game and hate to get away from it so it was quite the relief to hear things and finally get the trigger pulled.”
While the wait wasn’t easy, Brown found his new home in the Gas City, and it provides a lot more than a simple change of scenery. The US Division has built up a brand of highly physical play, and the Seattle Thunderbirds are largely known for playing chip-and-chase hockey — both of which provided challenges for a player of Brown’s stature and skillset.
But since joining the more speed-andfinesse-based Tigers, the first-round bantam draft pick has been filling a much different role with a noticeable jump in ice time.
“It’s very different. I literally was saying to everyone on the bench that this is crazy. It’s night and day how different it is. I’m excited. My family and whoever was watching my games would tell me it’s awesome to see and they can tell I’m getting my confidence back,” said Brown, who has two assists in his five games since joining the Tigers. “Bigger guys, lots of chip and chase, that wasn’t really my style.”
Despite being off the ice for two months and taking in his first skate with the Tigers during warm-ups prior to last Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Blades in Saskatoon, Brown worked his way onto the scoresheet in his first shift — logging an assist on Gary Haden’s opening goal.
“First shift, that's pretty exciting. I was almost in disbelief but it was quite exciting,” he said. “It's good to get a couple practices in here and there before a game but it was actually really good. I almost felt better getting straight into it.”
Brown added he’s been meshing well with his new linemates Haden and Jaeger White. The trio has combined for nine points in the four games since Brown joined up, including a highlight reel goal in Sunday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors.
“We were all reading off each other there,” said Brown. “We're around the same size, which is good. We've got some speed and we're moving the puck well. I'm excited to hopefully build some good chemistry with them.” Haden echoed his new linemates sentiment, saying the three compliment one other well and have a good sense of where each is on the ice — which has been yielding impressive results. “The first shift in Saskatoon, you can't really ask for a better start than that,” said Haden. “If he keeps giving me those (assists) we'll be best friends forever.”