Photo Credit: denverpioneers.com
Chuck Fletcher made a bold moving up to grab Bobby Brink, a young man that possesses a snipers like shot, with the 34th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft, “I’m honored to join a classy, historic, organization,” Brink said, “Flyers fans are so passionate, how can a person not be excited. It was a day I will remember for the rest of my life. My friends and family were very happy.”
Brink has a wicked blast, as he can shoot from anywhere, but Brink can do it accurately in the same token. If a Defenseman has the guts to stand in the way of his hard slap shot…good luck, or better yet…good riddance. Fletcher moved up and selected Brink to help aide the Flyers with secondary scoring in the future, and to restock the Right Wing position. This young Flyers team seems destined for success in the future, with all the young budding prospects to include Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, German Rubtsov, Cam York, Isaac Ratcliffe, Wyatt Kalynuk, and Tanner Laczynski. Of course, now we can add Brink to the mix of budding young prospects, as he may make his NHL debut within the next few years, “I still have to perform in order to make the NHL,” Brink Said, “I want to develop, and I thought the University of Denver was the best spot for me to do that. I knew I had to get better at skating. That’s an area that I will always have to focus. I worked hard this past Summer in that area.”
As Brink highlighted, the University of Denver Pioneers has really produced some good former and current NHL players. For instance, Tyler Bozak (Blues), Chris Butler (Blues), Paul Stastny (Vegas), Jason Zucker (Wild), Will Butcher (Devils), and former Flyers Kevin Dineen and Matt Carle, all played for the University of Denver. Brink really selected a renown hockey program to play for.
The young prospect in Brink was born on July 8, 2001, in Minnetonka, MN, and this US-born player has busted his butt to get where he is at in his career. Nothing was handed to him by any means, he had to earn everything. His hard work and dedication to the sport of hockey are finally paying off in a big way, and he has been working hard on his wicked slap shot since he was younger, “I’ve been working on perfecting my slap shot ever since I was younger,” Brink said, “It’s something that you have to continue to work on. I work on both my shot and skating, so I focused a lot more on skating this past Summer though.”
This young prospect in Brink opened some eyes in his freshman season for the Pioneers. He really showcased his talent of being a sniper, a player with a goal scoring touch, en route to a solid year by potting 11 goals, and registering 13 assists for a total of 24 points in 28 games played. Believe it or not from watching some of his games from this past season, it appeared as though Brink’s speed improved significantly. Brink’s motto is to get better, and remained focused on the task at hand, for his efforts, Brink was named to the NCHC All-Rookie team before his season was cut short due to what appeared to be a knee injury, and Brink sounded off on that last month before the season ended due to the Coronavirus, “I’m week to week. I will skate on Wednesday and Thursday, and see how I feel, then kind of go from there.”
Brink continued, “I’ve always wanted to be a hockey player. My dad has taught me so much, and I was happy to have him as a coach when I was younger. He (Andy) played at the University of Minnesota, so we have been through sort of the same stuff together. It’s special, and it will be a special moment to hopefully crack the NHL one day.”
This young man has some great hockey tools that the Flyers could benefit from in the future. Brink won’t kill you with his speed (At the moment), but his hockey IQ ranks off the charts. One thing is for certain Flyers fans, the future is bright in Flyer land.
Brink is too small for NHL. He isn’t the fastest skater, or the most skilled player either. He does have a nose for the puck and is excellent around the net. Brink looks like a good player; at the AHL level. He might get a call up someday to fill in for an injured Flyer, but that’s it.