From South Florida to the NHL, Wilds Brandon Duhaime and Coyotes Jakob Chychrun are living the

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Jakob Chychrun is coming off a Norris Trophy-type season. He’s a young, up-and-comer who in a league with scores of quality sharp-shooting defensemen led all NHL blueliners in goal scoring a season ago.

His longtime defense partner and mentor with the Arizona Coyotes, the Minnesota Wild’s Alex Goligoski, calls Chychrun a star in the making.

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Yet, at 23 years old and amazingly already in his sixth NHL season, Chychrun will look across the Gila River Arena ice during warmups on Wednesday night and undoubtedly feel one of the greatest senses of pride he has experienced at the NHL level when he spots Brandon Duhaime on the opposite side of the red line.

This game between the Wild and Coyotes will be a dream come true for Chychrun and Duhaime, the Wild’s 24-year-old rookie rapidly growing in popularity in the State of Hockey due to his lightning speed, hard hits and endless energy. The Wild are riding a three-game winning streak and coming off a win against the New York Islanders where Duhaime registered his first game-winning goal and multi-point game.

“Let’s put it this way: I’m keeping tabs on Minnesota every night and checking to see how Dewy’s doing,” said Chychrun, who in 56 games last season led NHL defensemen with 18 goals, tied for third with five power-play goals, finished second with 176 shots and 10th with 41 points to finish 10th in Norris Trophy voting. “I’ve been reading a lot of good things about him, too, about his play and it just sounds like Dewy. That’s just him. He’s a guy that brings a lot to the table and does all the little things and works really hard.”

We hear stories all the time about NHLers who grew up playing on the same youth teams. But what are the chances that two close friends from South Florida would begin playing hockey together at ages 4 and 5, respectively, and make it all the way to the sport’s biggest stage?

“Mini-sticks,” Chychrun said laughing, when asked his favorite memory of playing hockey from age 4 to 13 with Duhaime. “If we’d go anywhere for a tournament, we would play nonstop mini-sticks in the airports at the gate before a flight. Didn’t matter how many (passengers) were in our way, we’d play mini-sticks. In the hotels, we would have so much fun and inevitably end up breaking chandeliers and stuff by accident.

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“There was such a great group of us in Florida there. We all were like family. Whenever we would go up north, whenever we would go up to the snow and stuff, we’d always end up outside the hotel in our underwear doing snow angels. … When you’re a kid from South Florida, you just love playing in the snow. We had to travel a heckuva lot to play hockey. But at a young age, it’s just so cool to experience that with one another.”

“Yeah,” Chychrun said, pausing, “I’m so proud Dewy’s gotten here. He absolutely deserves it.”

Chychrun hails from Boca Raton.

His father, Jeff, a TV analyst for the Florida Panthers, played nine years of pro hockey, eight in the NHL. Drafted in the second round by the Broad Street Bullies, Jeff Chychrun was a rugged defenseman never shy to drop the gloves for the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers.

Duhaime hails from Parkland, the neighboring town just to the southwest of Boca and a slap shot from the Panthers’ Coral Springs practice facility. He grew up living in the same housing development as several Panthers players, something that just added to his love of hockey when he got to see players like Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen come home from “work.” His father, Trevor, was a hard-hitting, fist-throwing, soft-spoken winger from the Quebec League drafted by the Washington Capitals. He played one year of pro hockey.

Both Jeff Chychrun and Trevor Duhaime ended up settling in South Florida because of their wives, Nancy and Martine, respectively, and that’s where they raised their children. Each couple has a son and a daughter, and naturally, Taylor Chychrun and Naomi Duhaime, are best friends along with the sister (Emily) of a third member of Jakob and Brandon’s youth teams, Zach Greenwood.

“If there was a vote in the Chychrun household for favorite person outside of our home, Naomi Duhaime would get it,” a howling Jeff Chychrun said of Duhaime’s sister, who is an interior designer. “She’d win it hands down. She’s just a breath of fresh air. Always smiling. The room lights up when she walks in. Brandon would be a close second, though.”

Twenty-five years ago, Jeff Chychrun and Trevor Duhaime ended up in the same men’s league. By chance, two years later they began coaching their boys together in a house league that amazingly also included future Notre Dame captain and current Columbus Blue Jackets 23-year-old defenseman Andrew Peeke. Peeke has become Duhaime’s closest friend in hockey.

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“Trev and I, we had a lot of fun with them on the ice,” Jeff Chychrun said. “We’d do different drills and use lots of pucks and have them play every position and basically tried to almost create chaos on the ice. They had to sort of weave their way through it. But it was really all about skill with us.

“When I played, I had to play a tough game that maybe I wasn’t always comfortable with. I swore when I was coaching it was going to be all about skill because anybody can teach someone to hit, anybody can teach someone to do the dirty work. But if you don’t develop those innate skills, you can’t play with the puck in the middle of the ice. I wanted them to have those skills because that’s a lot more fun way to play than I had to play and Trev had to play.

“Brandon … he could really skate from Day 1. So we just built on that and made sure he could skate backwards and had lots of pucks on his stick. We went through all the phases when they were little. My kid was probably more guilty of hanging on to pucks, and you try to get them to start passing pucks.”

End-to-end BEAUTY from Brandon Duhaime! Wild take the 3-2 lead in the third!#mnwild pic.twitter.com/83XdVN72fn

— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) November 8, 2021

The objective of both coaches and dads was to have all the kids work on their skating, edge work, pivots and transitions. It’s the type of skill work that helped develop Brandon Duhaime into one of the Wild’s fastest skaters, and helped Jakob Chychrun transition seamlessly to defense after both players roved back and forth as kids.

Years later, in order to find a more advanced level of hockey, Jakob and Brandon would take the 135-mile drive every weekend on the Sawgrass Highway, then across Alligator Alley to Estero, Fla., to play for the Junior Everblades. They’d play hockey four hours every Saturday and four hours every Sunday, with all the kids and parents staying at the same Embassy Suites.

There were lots of dinners, the parents all became fast, close friends and the kids created nightly ruckus at the hotel.

In fact, Duhaime’s mom, Martine, basically began running the team.

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“It was not easy,” Martine Duhaime said, “as far as getting them to where they needed to be. We had to fly out of state every month or every weekend to the west coast of Florida. But we were surrounded by other crazy hockey parents who were all willing to do this because our kids were having a blast. We formed a really good bond with all the families. The kids just had so much fun.”

It became clear really fast just how serious hockey was to Jakob and Brandon, though.

When they became squirts, they played on the same line and quickly discovered how good they could be together.

“If they gave each other the puck, they could really make plays and grew like that,” Jeff Chychrun said. “It was so cool to see these two young hockey players realize that they could really rely on each other to, well, show up and work hard and give the team a chance. They depended on each other quite a bit, and that on-ice chemistry was cool to watch because you then saw their friendship grow.”

Over the years, Jakob Chychrun and Brandon Duhaime had two pivotal hockey achievements: the Bell Capital Cup in Ottawa as minor atoms (Chychrun was 8, Duhaime was 9), and they qualified for nationals in Buffalo, N.Y., with the Everblades as minor peewees (Chychrun was 11, Duhaime was 12).

Martine and Trevor Duhaime really didn’t know how far their son could go with hockey.

“Like, Jake’s always been full of energy and has definitely been the superstar,” Martine Duhaime said. “It was kind of really obvious that he would make it. Brandon was more like we thought he could, but we’re his parents. I know Trevor knows his hockey very well, and he always thought there was just something about Brandon and he was different. But still, you’re from South Florida, what are your chances?

“I’m sure every parent thinks their kid probably could play in the NHL or would love them to play, so it’s like you don’t really know if it’s ever really something that you’re just dreaming of because you’re the parent or is it really a possibility?”

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Trevor, however, just had this feeling having grown up playing the sport.

“I thought Brandon always had something special,” Trevor said, “so Jeff and I tried to teach him the good things and not to go with the bad.”

Added Jeff Chychrun, “I don’t want to call Brandon an old soul, but he was always a little ahead of a lot of the kids, either maturity-wise or just having a little more street sense than a lot of the kids. You just knew he’d find a way to make it.”

It also became apparent to the Duhaimes that if Brandon was going to make it, he’d have to leave South Florida.

Growing up, young hockey players like Duhaime and Chychrun really looked up to guys like Boca’s Andrew Yogan, 29, the first Florida-born and -raised hockey player to be drafted in the NHL (New York Rangers in 2010), and Pembroke Pines’ Shayne Gostisbehere, a Flyers’ third-round pick in 2012.

Gostisbehere, who is now Chychrun’s teammate on the Coyotes, attended Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which is right around the corner from Duhaime’s childhood home. That’s where Duhaime’s sister graduated and where he would have gone to high school.

But in order to continue his hockey aspirations, Gostisbehere moved to Connecticut at age 16 to attend boarding school at South Kent. Duhaime didn’t want to go the prep school route, so he found a spot playing for the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in Kelowna, B.C., at age 14.

In a difficult sacrifice for the family, Trevor Duhaime left his wife and daughter behind in Parkland and moved to B.C. with his son for two of his three years there.

When Brandon Duhaime told the Chychruns that he was leaving, a 13-year-old Jakob Chychrun knew right away it was time for him to leave, too. His dad had connections with the famed Little Caesars program in Detroit. It was not easy for Jakob. He still lived in Florida, practiced with whoever he could during the week, like the Junior Panthers or a Junior B team in Lake Worth, and then on Thursday or Friday nights would jump on a Ft. Lauderdale to Detroit nonstop Delta flight. On Sunday nights every weekend, Jakob would get on an 8 o’clock flight home and land by midnight so he could get to high school on time at American Heritage in Delray Beach the next morning.

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But Chychrun’s career absolutely took off.

At age 15, he was close to 6-foot-2 and made such noise in Michigan that he applied for exceptional status to play in the USHL. His application was denied, so he finished his minor hockey in the Greater Toronto Hockey League playing for the Toronto Jr. Canadians. Such a star, Chychrun was drafted first in the 2014 OHL Draft by the Sarnia Sting. In 2016, he was drafted 16th by the Coyotes.

Duhaime’s ascension was slower. He played in the BCHL, then the USHL for the Chicago Steel before being traded to the Tri-City Storm. In 2016, Duhaime won a Clark Cup with current Wild linemate Nico Sturm coincidentally as his linemate. Around Christmastime in 2015, Duhaime de-committed from Brown and was recruited by a handful of colleges with Providence being the immediate frontrunner. He’d ultimately commit to going to school there soon before the Wild drafted him in the fourth round in June 2016.

“For me, it was a longer process than Jake. He was just further ahead than a lot of us kids,” Duhaime said.

He played three years at Providence before turning pro with the Wild. After two solid years in Iowa, the Wild awarded him this past summer with a two-year contract, the first year being two-way, the second being one-way. The latter means he would be paid his $750,000 NHL salary even if he played in Iowa next season, so it was the first indication of how close the Wild thought he was to becoming an NHLer.

Well, fast forward to training camp, Duhaime opened on an NHL regular line with Sturm and coincidentally former Panther Nick Bjugstad, and was the clear favorite to earn a job out of camp.

How impressed were the Wild with Duhaime in camp?

After he earned an opening night roster spot, general manager Bill Guerin didn’t even wait the customary month or so to tell Duhaime he had permission to move out of the team hotel. He told Duhaime that he and his girlfriend, Kaylee, could look for a place immediately, an indication that the Wild had zero thought of sending him down to Iowa at some point.

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Well, Duhaime hasn’t disappointed since.

He’s been playing on one of the Wild’s most consistently effective lines right from the outset.

“But I think the biggest thing is just not getting fat and happy about it,” Duhaime said. “Just cuz you have a little bit of success early doesn’t mean you’re not going to face bumps in the road later. … Right now, I’m really feeling out the league, to be honest. Every day is a learning experience and my goal is to just continue to come here every day, whether it’s a game or practice, and just work my butt off and do my part in helping us have success.”

The Coyotes have gotten off to a slow start this season, although they won their first game over the weekend against the Seattle Kraken. Chychrun knows Wednesday’s game will be difficult. After all, the Wild just seem to have Arizona’s number, winning seven of eight last season by a combined 32-12 score, going 23-5-3 against the Coyotes in the past 31 meetings and 12-3-1 in their past 16 visits to Arizona.

“But it’s going to be awesome to see my fellow Floridian on the other side,” said Chychrun. “I still consider myself a Florida boy, which is why I think (Wednesday’s game) is going to be so special for Dewy and me.”

The game will also be really special for Jakob and Brandon’s families, too. All hockey parents have to put in a lot of early hours, late nights and long days at the rink. It’s an expensive sport and the transportation to and from rinks and hockey tournaments can be laborious.
Chychrun has been in the NHL for a while now. He’s a $4.6 million defenseman, yet seeing friends like Duhaime make it really makes him appreciate what he’s already achieved.

Teams often invest heavily in first-round picks and give them every opportunity to make it. Chychrun learned that as a teenager when he debuted for the Coyotes. As a mid-round pick, Duhaime was one of several Wild minor-leaguers striving for precious few NHL openings.

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“The odds were probably against him, honestly, and for him to be able to come out on the other end and be making an impact at the NHL level now, it’s such a credit to Dewy,” Chychrun said. “Sometimes the path is longer and you just have to stick with it. I think he’s a great example of that and never losing that belief in himself, which is the most important thing. You’ve got to be your own biggest supporter and I’m really happy for him.”

“That being said,” Chychrun said, laughing, “I want to beat him.”

That will cause nerves with both sets of parents, who will be watching from South Florida with immense pride.

“I think there’ll be a pretty good wink in warmups,” Jeff Chychrun said. “They pushed each other hard in practice, too, so I would imagine when pucks are in the corner, they’re going to work hard against each other. They’re not going to want to lose any battles to the other guy. I can promise you that if a puck goes in deep and Brandon’s forechecking or driving wide, he’s going to hit my son. If Jakob’s skating through the neutral zone and catches Brandon flat-footed, he’s going around him. It’s going to be fun to watch. These two guys are competitive with each other.

“It’s just going to be a fun game also seeing Goose (Goligoski) play against Jakob. Gosh, I can’t say enough about the value that Alex brought to Jakob’s career for five years. Jakob thinks the world of him. He was just an incredible influence and role model to my guy.”

Duhaime looks at his buddy, Chychrun, with an immense amount of pride and hopes to follow in his ffootsteps.

“You see him online and you see him in his interviews and the way he carries himself, I mean, he is a true pro,” Duhaime said, before laughing. “Obviously away from the rink, he’s a little bit different. A little more laid back, but he’s the ultimate pro and ultimate leader. … He is so good, so established. For me, obviously, that’s a long way ahead, but he’s one of the top defensemen in the league. I look up to the way he carries himself, his off-ice habits and stuff like that.”

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Chychrun echoes that sentiment about the fitness freak that is Duhaime, although that doesn’t stop him from giving his buddy grief every now and then.

For instance, when Duhaime got that solo lap before his NHL debut last month in Anaheim and stepped on that puck and tumbled to the ice, Chychrun was one of the first to, ahem, reach out.

Brandon Duhaime on his solo lap spill and his teammates’ reax: “They actually didn’t know. They didn’t see it so I kind of kept it quiet for a little bit then I told one of the guys and then it blew up from there.” pic.twitter.com/4o0xHboRVo

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 17, 2021

“That was hilarious,” Chychrun said. “I sent it to him on Instagram. I gave him a hard time. I also loved his first goal where he didn’t have his stick. My dad sent it to me and I got a good laugh out of that one. That first goal was really cool, really funny. Hey, that’s being at the right place, at the right time. Just go to the dirty areas, right?”

brandon duhaime scored the best first nhl goal i have ever seen pic.twitter.com/G2RsVrduJt

— dylan (@dylanfremlin) October 23, 2021

Chychrun and Duhaime couldn’t be prouder of their South Florida roots.

Last week, Pembroke Pines’ Chase Priskie became the first Florida native to make his NHL debut with the hometown Panthers. A year older than Duhaime and two years older than Chychrun, Priskie was a Panthers fanatic as a kid and hopes to be an inspiration to other Floridian hockey players. Chychrun and Duhaime couldn’t wait to reach out to him.

“To see him finally get a crack, make it into an NHL game and to have it be with the Panthers, I mean, oh my God, I can’t imagine how special it was for him,” Chychrun said. “I was really happy for him and Andrew Peeke. He’s also another guy that just really earned his shot and is now such a huge piece for Columbus.”

On Nov. 20, Duhaime is slated to play his first NHL game in South Florida. That’s always a thrill for Chychrun, and Martine Duhaime has already secured dozens of tickets in one section of FLA Live Arena for family, friends and a lot of colleagues from work.

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The Panthers, who haven’t won a playoff round in Chychrun and Duhaime’s lifetimes, are off to a tremendous start this season. Chychrun hopes the Panthers’ early success and games like Wednesday night when two Floridians face off against each other on an NHL surface act as an inspiration for young Floridian hockey players who dream of making it to the NHL

“I’ll get messages on social media from a bunch of kids that are from South Florida playing hockey. It’s just cool to see,” Chychrun said. “A number of years ago you wouldn’t really see that many kids be interested in it. I think the success the Panthers are having is also a big positive and a big influence as well. Hopefully they can look up to Dewy and me and just kind of see that it’s possible.”

(Top photo of Brandon Duhaime and Jakob Chychrun with Sidney Crosby: Courtesy of Jeff Chychrun)

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