Part of a revamped U Ottawa Gee Gees men’s hockey program, reestablished after a two-year hiatus following a sexual assault scandal in 2014, O’Brien feels like he’s part of something special.

Now, with a fourth opportunity for success with such a tight-knit group of players and coaches who have been at it together all the way through, O’Brien is especially confident heading into the 2019-2020 season.

“To be part of a team that you get on day one, you get all moved together for three years, you develop some pretty good friendships and bonds with your teammates over that time,” he said.

O’Brien served as assistant captain in a utility role for the garnet and grey in each of the last three years, earning the respect of his teammates and coaches over that time. His hard work has certainly paid off after being voted on as captain of the team.

Now, grabbing the torch in the footsteps of consecutive consummate leaders on and off the ice, O’Brien is conscious that he has quite the shoes to fill and he is excited for the opportunity to do so.

“We rebooted the program after shenanigans,” he said. “We’re coming into year-four and prior to this year we had Eric Locke who had transferred from St. Francis Xavier and came to play here. He was captain at St. FX, so he was a great guy to come in and continue leading this team after our first captain in year one, Gabriel Vermette.”

Since the title was voted on by a consensus of coaches and teammates, having the letter C stitched over his heart on his jersey means a whole lot to the 24-year-old centreman from the core of the Pontiac.

Growing up on the corner of chemin Bank and Flynn in Vinton, O’Brien spent a great part of his childhood playing sports with his three brothers: James, Phil and Eric. Whether it was road hockey to pretend competitions between the boys, he explained that they always did what they had to do to keep themselves entertained.

“We lived on a dirt road and in the winter, there was always a pond that I’d find,” he said. “In the summer, it was always road hockey all the time. It was always two on two hockey because we were four.”

Before finding stability with the Gee Gees, O’Brien’s hockey life mostly consisted of bouncing from one place to the next. Starting his minor hockey in Fort Coulonge, O’Brien ended up playing some games as a call up in Shawville before moving onto La Pêche to play at a higher level.

Considering the shoddiness of roads from Vinton to La Pêche, his stint with the Loups only lasted one year as he decided to play in Aylmer where he would star for the next few seasons before cracking the Gatineau Intrepide Bantam AA roster.

After playing for the Intrepide program through Bantam and Midget, O’Brien’s efforts paid off as he got drafted by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the 2012 QMJHL entry draft.

O’Brien played four years in the QMJHL with two teams, wearing either the A or the C, at some point, with both of them.

From the northern nights of Rouyn-Noranda or the oceanside lifestyle of Charlottetown, P.E.I., O’Brien’s time in the QMJHL was an experience he’ll never forget.

While it didn’t end in the way he’d dreamed of, after breaking his hand in a game against the Moncton Wildcats his last year after being named as the Islanders’ captain, it still provided him with bonding experiences and relationships that live on to this day.

For example, his billet family from P.E.I. has visited him in Ottawa to watch him play every year since he left. He’s made the trip to the Island to visit them a couple of times as well.

“Major Junior was really fun. I played in Rouyn-Noranda which is as Northern as it gets in the Q and as cold as it gets probably,” he said. “I developed some pretty good friendships there because that was the original team that drafted me. There wasn’t a whole lot to do in the actual town, but I think the fact that we were a pretty close group when I was 17 and 18, a lot of the guys came back for the second year.”

“And the chance to go down and live in Charlottetown was really cool,” he added. “I felt like it was kind of more of a Pontiac feel.”

Done with his junior career, O’Brien signed his letter of intent with the Gee Gees in 2016. Since the school was relatively close to home, with his girlfriend completing her Master’s degree there at the time, deciding to study at U Ottawa was a no brainer, he said.

This was after the program was brought back from the grave, following the 2014 scandal.

Upon the program’s reinstatement in 2016, the team’s new head coach Patrick Grandmaître was tasked with rebuilding it from scratch.

So far, the on-ice product has constantly improved ever since.

In their first year back, the Gee Gees, consisting of only first year players, shocked the province, finishing fifth in their conference with a 15-13 regular season record, helping them qualify for a playoff spot where they eventually fell to Queens University in three games.

In 2017, the same squad returned and brought its calibre a notch higher, finishing 16-12 which was good for fourth in the conference. In the playoffs, they eliminated their bitter rivals, the Carleton Ravens, two games to one, before being ousted by McGill in the second round.

Last season, the Gee Gees ended up in first place in the league with a nearly record-breaking 22-6 record before being unceremoniously eliminated by the eventual Queens Cup Champions in Queen’s University.

This year, O’Brien expects more of the same from a Gee Gees squad filled with tons of familiar faces and serious skill on both sides of the puck. While he knows that last year’s team was particularly hot throughout the entire season – all that they can focus on is their attitude and their work ethic.

“I think we can kind of pick up where we left off,” he said. “As far as our record goes, yeah it was a sick year last year. We almost broke the league record. But, some of those games, to win that many games, you’ve got to be lucky at the same time.

“I think we were the kind of team that kind of earned it,” he added. “We really prided ourselves on being a hardworking team and I think that’s kind of our reputation that’s built up in the league. We’re just trying to be as relentless as possible and bring our hardhats to the rink every time we get to.”

While the team is losing a couple of key players, including its captain of the last three years, Eric Locke, it added a few new pieces in the off season with hopes of taking the team to the next level. Some of the pickups include 6’-5” behemoth on the back end from the Oshawa Generals, Nicolas Mattinen, former Charlottetown Islander Daniel Hardie along with Aylmer goaltender Dominic Graham.

“It’ll be interesting to see how it affects the goaltender’s dynamic on our team,” he said. “Best case scenario it just raises everyone’s game and I don’t even want to think about what would happen if it doesn’t.”

While putting the puck in the net was his calling card at some point in his career, O’Brien admits that as he got older, shining on the score sheet became more difficult.

That’s when he realized that he needed to adjust his game in order to keep playing at the highest level he could. Whether it was dropping the gloves every now and then or laying out in front of 100 mph. slappers from the point, it became about sacrificing oneself for the best of the team in order to fill a roster spot every night.

“All of a sudden, I’ve got to find something that I’m good at, in order to continue,” he said. “In Midget, that’s when it started. I started playing a lot of penalty kill and playing more of defensive shutdown forward role.”

“In the Q again it was kind of like ‘okay you’re there’, but what are you going to do to make sure you’re in the lineup ever y night? So then, it was like, I can read between the lines I think if I can drop the gloves here and there and not only drop the gloves but do my best to win and make an impact. That’s where I kind of grasped that idea like half way through my first year.”

O’Brien’s game hasn’t made much of a change since arriving at U Ottawa. From killing penalties, playing responsibly in his own end and scoring the odd goal every other game, O’Brien believes his rugged, win at all cost style of play is part of what has made him such a highly regarded presence in the Gee Gees dressing room.

“Being a utility guy, I think if you’re good at it, it does generate respect from your teammates,” he said. “If you’re a guy that they believe you’ll lay down for a shot that helps big time for sure. Or if you’re always going hard in practice or just little things that you can control, absolutely. It’s been a while since I’ve been in an offensive role but I think it definitely does help, as far as leadership goes.”

Although the letter on the jersey means leadership and additional responsibility, O’Brien said that he expects things to largely remain the same now that he’s captain, from the way he approaches the game to how he interacts with players, coaches and fans.

“That was how I ended up getting voted on to wear the C,” he said. “It changes, as far as your role goes. You end up getting a little more responsibility. But as far as who I am, it’s about staying as much as I’ve always been. If you change who you are, guys see right through you. You’ll lose more respect if you do.”

Although his regimented schedule often keeps him tucked away in Ottawa or cooped up in a bus travelling across the country to play against rival programs, O’Brien tries to keep in touch with his hometown roots as much as he can.

He gives a lot of credit for his success at higher levels to his parents Tom and Louise and their constant dedication to their sons’ love for hockey.

With three other brothers playing at the same time he did, the countless rides to practices and games and the resources his parents sacrificed in order for them to play at the highest level they could is something he can’t discount when it comes to its importance.

“As far as becoming elite, I think that had to do with my parents’ commitment to giving me the opportunity to go out and get better,” he said.

But some of that credit also goes to his three brothers. Growing up in a house full of boys, it was always about competing against one another, O’Brien explained – the perfect place for him to take his contentious will to the next level.

“We’d play this game called “Hits” on the trampoline,” he said. “So, you’d just get on and try and hit the guy. Just body checking non-stop. The competitiveness was definitely something that was instilled from day one.”

Whether he’s cleaning pools to make a little extra cash in the summer time, or going on ice-fishing expeditions with fellow Gee Gees teammates in the winter, he’s happy knowing home is just a relatively short drive away. Plus, with his girlfriend done school and once again in the area, he always finds his way back to the Pontiac every now then.

“Our family, we’re very independent but at the same time when we get a chance to get together, we make it worth the while.”

O’Brien looked back on his university experience on and off the ice as one of the best of his entire life so far.

“Wearing the garnet and grey is something that I’ll be proud of forever,” he said

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!