As the son of Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Martin, Anthony Brodeur has grown accustomed to people doing a double-take when they realize who his father is.
“I don’t think people realize it at first but then the other two guys in the group will start talking to themselves a little before they ask me about my dad,” Brodeur said. “That kind of thing happens quite often, but I’m used to it and it’s all good.”
Like his younger brother Jeremy, who was part of an Oshawa Generals team that won the Memorial Cup in 2015, Anthony followed in his father’s footsteps as a netminder.
A seventh round pick of the New Jersey Devils in the 2013 NHL Draft out of the Shattuck St. Mary’s program in Minnesota, Brodeur spent two seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Gatineau Olympiques and the Drummondville Voltigeurs before wrapping up his junior career with the British Columbia Hockey League’s Penticton Vees in 2016.
He then joined the Ottawa Gee-Gees in U Sports for four seasons, where he suited up for their hockey team and also played golf on a competitive basis for the first time.
“I had always golfed but you only have a certain window of time that you go for it in the world of hockey so I went that route,” said Brodeur, who now calls Oshawa, Ont. home.
“When I went to school, I met the golf coach (Paul Carson) and after chatting with him I decided to play both sports for the Gee-Gees.
“I fell in love with the competitive aspect of golf, as I hadn’t been in that side of the game before, and I wanted to see how far I could get with my game.”
Brodeur became a pro golfer following his time in U Sports and joined the Mackenzie Tour last year for a handful of events during their shortened 2020 campaign.
“It’s pretty exciting to know that the route I’ve chosen to go down has led to this opportunity,” Brodeur said.
“It’s been an awesome experience so far and it’s been great to check out places that I haven’t been to before, such as Prince Edward Island where we were for the last two weeks and now here in Saskatchewan.”
Heading into this week’s Elk Ridge Open, which started on Thursday and finishes on Saturday at the Elk Ridge Resort in Waskesiu, Brodeur was coming off of his best finish to date on the Mackenzie Tour.
He ended up in a tie for 17th last week at the Brudenell River Classic, where he shot an opening round 65 to sit in a tie for second and was tied for third place entering the final round.
“I feel like I was able to learn quite a lot during my events last year that I was able to carry over into this year, as I had a better idea of what I needed to do in order to be prepared for the tour,” Brodeur said. “I’ve made two out of the four cuts going into this tournament and I only missed the cut by a stroke at those other two events, so I feel like I’m a lot more competitive this year.
“There’s still a long road to go in the season as we have three more events after this one. My goal is to make the cut and compete for top 10 finishes as we head into the final event of the year in Victoria. Then we’ll see what happens from there.”
Although his competitive hockey days are now behind them, Brodeur is taking many of the lessons he learned from his time between the pipes towards his current career.
“You’re out there on your own as a goalie and I think that helps you mentally out here,” Brodeur said.
“I’m used to playing in high-pressure games and big moments and I definitely thank that translates to the scenarios you face in golf.”
