Catching Up With Nantucket Summer Resident, Voice Of The Boston Bruins Andy Brickley

Andy Brickley always dreamed of becoming an NHL player and if lucky, a Boston Bruin. Those aspirations drove him from his childhood all the way through his days at the University of New Hampshire where he was a walk-on athlete attempting to prove the many naysayers wrong who didn’t believe he had the skills to become a professional hockey player.

Brickley, who went on to be drafted with the final pick in the 1980 NHL draft (#210 by the Philadelphia Flyers) ultimately enjoyed an 11-year NHL career that included four years with the Bruins. The Melrose native’s dream of playing for the Black & Gold was realized, but little did he know his life story would far surpass what he hoped to achieve.

“I dreamed about playing in the NHL. I dreamed about playing for the Boston Bruins,” Brickley said. “I dreamed about playing in a Stanley Cup Final, and all of that came true. Then as a second career, I have been calling Bruins games since 1996. I’m the luckiest guy ever. Go across the league and look at the people doing my job. Did they grow up in that town? Did they play for that team? It is a pretty small number. It shows how fortunate I am to be in the position I’m in and to have had the life I’ve had.”

After getting his start in broadcasting in 1996 alongside the late Bob Neumeier on radio, Brickley eventually made his way to TV when Channel 38 and NESN were two different stations. Eventually they merged, and Brickley has been with NESN ever since while evolving into one of the most recognizable and admired faces associated with the original six franchise – doing color for NESN’s broadcasts.

In 2020, Brickley and his wife Diane bought a home on Nantucket. They were first introduced to the island after winning a silent auction at their daughter Jenna’s elementary school for a getaway trip to Nantucket.

“We both grew up very modest in Weymouth and Melrose, big families,” Diane Brickley said. “We didn’t summer here or day trip here. We had heard of it, but we had barely been to the Cape or anywhere down here. Then we won that little silent auction and had a Young’s Bike Rental ticket, a room at the White Elephant, then I read it, and it said it was good for any Tuesday in November. But we came and we absolutely loved it. We went out to Madaket, out to Sconset. We biked to Sconset and I am toast meanwhile (Andy) has a baby strapped to his back and is just hauling.”

“I assumed you were right with me,” Andy Brickley chimed in chuckling.

They ultimately were able to "wave" down the Wave Bus and get a ride back into town. They remember enjoying a dinner at the White Elephant that night and both quickly knew the island was a special place.

Their second encounter with Nantucket was when Brickley began coming out for AJ Mleczko’s Charity on Ice event, which raised money to support the Nantucket Ice Rink. They’d make it a family trip and allowed the kids to do their own thing while they partook in the event and explored Nantucket.

“Everybody wanted to come here,” Andy Brickley said. “You could come for the long weekend. You can fish. You can golf. You can play hockey. You have a beautiful fundraising dinner. I remember being up on Cliff Road overlooking the ocean and it was just beautiful. We did it for 10 consecutive years. We got to experience more of the island than the one hotel everyone stayed at all the time. AJ worked with us to allow us to explore while we were here.”

Both Andy and Diane said hanging around in town and going for leisurely walks remains two of their favorite things to do on the island. Andy in particularly enjoys sitting outside of the Hub while sipping on a cup of coffee reading the Wall Street Journal or Boston Herald and filling out the crossword puzzles.

“That is how I start my day,” Brickley said. “I do my mental exercises through the newspaper in the morning to get my brain working.”

Diane says her husband has an incredible memory and will complete crossword puzzles in his head before filling them out. These puzzles are also a way Brickley enjoys passing time while on flights to road games. He recalled one time where a Bruins player noticed Brickley staring at the blank crossword for a period of time without making any progress, not knowing that Brickley was completing it in his head.

“He came up to me and said ‘Brick, you having a little trouble,” he said laughing. “Because the thing is blank. Bob Beers was sitting next to me and before he could say anything, I took my pen out of my ear and filled the entire thing out.”

“I remember saying to Andy ‘Imagine someday if we actually had a vacation home here on Nantucket,” Diane added. “How amazing would that be, and now we have it.”

“You’ve always been somebody who has earned money and done very well for yourself, but if I was playing in today’s economic environment, the purchase may have come sooner,” Brickley said laughing. “I will come for weekends here and there, and I absolutely love it. It is very relaxing. Everywhere I turn I see the ocean, so I like that. I like the pace, the architecture, the geography, and the house we have.”

“We are certainly very blessed to be able to have a vacation home here,” Diane said, adding that she has also spent a winter out on the island as well and the family has celebrated holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas on the rock.

She said the family enjoys every season the island presents and at least one person from the family is out here at the home throughout the year. Their daughter Michaela also got married on the island this past June, creating another lasting memory for the family in a place that is becoming increasingly more special to them as the years go by.

We chatted with Brickley about his path to the NHL, the upcoming NHL season, how he thinks the Bruins will perform, what some of the keys to the season will be, Jack Edwards, Jeremy Swayman, and more ahead of the Boston Bruins first game of the 2024-2025 season on Tuesday, October 8 on the road against their division rival and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. The game will begin at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

His Journey From UNH Hockey Walk-On To 11-Year NHL Veteran:

“I went over to Harvard for a weekend visit. It was a Sunday morning, I met with Billy Cleary. He was very direct. God bless him, he said, 'Andy, you're a borderline student. As far as Harvard is concerned, the only way you're going to get in is through the hockey program and frankly, you're not good enough to play Division 1 hockey, so good luck.'

"So I went home and my parents asked me how it went and I said 'Well, not so good," Brickley said laughing. “I said to my Dad that I wanted to go to UNH and my mother's like, 'No, you're going to Trinity. You're going to Middlebury.' The other schools I got into. But I said, ‘Dad, I want to go there. I want to see if I can play Division 1 hockey.’ My father let my mother make all the decisions except the big ones, and he said, 'No, he's going to go to UNH to see if he can play D1 hockey.' That's how I ended up there. So when I met Diane (in college), I really wasn't focusing on dating. I had other things that were priorities. I had a team to make. I was a good high school player. There were people interested. But they had no scholarships left so I walked on. I was on the fifth line just hanging around. Carrying bags, sharpening skates. Doing whatever I had to do to stick around. We weren’t good as a team. 10 seniors graduated from the previous year, but that also meant opportunity. I knew it would come for me if I earned it.

“The issue for me was that I wasn’t effective enough as a skater. But I worked at it because once I was at UNH, I could focus more time on my skating. When I grew up in Melrose, we had practice at 3 o’clock in Saugus. By the time we got out of school at 2:30, drove up from Melrose to Saugus and got our gear on, now it is 3:10 and the Zamboni came out at 3:50. Now I get to UNH and skating is what needed to improve for me to become D1 caliber. I had the power but not the foot speed. Suddenly I had all this ice time and it came. I got my chance in December during a non-league game against Air Force. They threw me in there because they had nothing to lose and we won 9-4. I think I had two goals and five assists and the coaches said ‘You know, we should try him in a league game.’ And that got things going.

“Then by the end of my freshman year I was drafted into the NHL. There were 21 teams and 10 rounds at the time, and I went pick 210. I would jokingly say to people if I was picked one pick later I would have been #1 overall and that signing bonus would have looked a bit different. So I went from taxi squad to being drafted my freshman year. Then by my junior year I was an All-American and Hobey Baker finalist (best college hockey player). We went to the final four and lost to Wisconsin. There were lots of reasons to come back for my senior season whether it be challenging to be a top two UNH scorer of all time at that time, or to win a national championship, and I could have even played for my country in the 1984 Olympics maybe. But it was time. I don’t regret the decision at all. The Flyers felt I was ready, and I was ready.”

Story About Broadcasting After Hip Replacement Surgery Two Years Ago:

“Two seasons ago I couldn't walk. I just couldn't walk anymore. Couldn't walk upstairs. Couldn't walk. I had my left knee replaced going on six years now, and then I needed my other one done roughly at the same time. But I got such a great bounce from having a strong knee that there was less demand on my right knee. So I was living with it, playing my golf, and doing what I do. Then all of a sudden, this hip issue came out of nowhere. I took the x-rays and both my hips, the left one was gone and needed to be acted on right away. So during the all-star break, I had my hip replaced. We had nine days. We had nine days between games. The surgeon looked at me and was like that's not the schedule we're on. You need to spend at least two or three weeks at home recovering. I said I got to be on a plane to Dallas within nine days and they're like, ‘No chance.’

"I said, 'Doc, listen to me. I don't travel like a normal traveling person. I travel with the Bruins. We have our own plane. Every seat is a first-class seat. I can get up and walk around. I'm traveling with medical personnel that are tremendous. They will look after me. I go from the plane, onto the tarmac, onto a bus. I go to a five star hotel. I'll be fine, and that's exactly what happened.

"So I went to Dallas and Nashville. I was gone for about six days. I'm telling you, the Bruins personnel, because I have a really good relationship with them, they looked after me. Whatever I needed. They built up my seat on the plane because I couldn't sit. I couldn't squat. I had to sit up high. They made sure I was covered. They made sure I had ice wraps. During games, they would have a kid run up from wherever, and the Dallas trainers would come up and have a cooler of ice, ace bandages. So I would ice while I was calling the game to keep the swelling down. You got to do what you got to do. They looked after me.”

What Was It Like Calling Games With Jack Edwards And What Will You Miss?

"I would begin with just the unpredictability of what was going to be said and his passion for the sport, the game, the players, and obviously the team and the Bruins and the organization, and the reverence he had for and the appreciation he had for the job. That was the job he wanted all his life. I would also add that if you asked him, the word he hates most in English language, he'll tell you is vanilla. 'I will never be vanilla!'

"Did he push the envelope? Did he rock the boat? Did he put himself in harms way at times with some of the things he said, his opinions that he had? Absolutely, but he wouldn't do it any other way. But our goal as a broadcast team was to make you or anybody that's watching the game feel like we're all in your family room at home. Like Jack and I are on a couch watching the game with you guys, and we're just talking a little hockey.

“For the most part though, our opening segment is really the only time when we're on TV unless Jack's going nuts in the booth and they have that little camera they cut to like when Patrice Bergeron scored that game-winning goal against Toronto. But for that opening comment, while we see the graphics and go over the material beforehand, we certainly don't talk about that opening comment, we don't script it, and that's where that unpredictability is at its zenith. I don't know what's coming at me, and it's so exciting. The energy is off the charts. Jack is one of a kind and he is an incredible person. I saw him a couple times this summer out in Connecticut. He called me at some point this summer saying somebody wanted us to come up to the North Shore Mall in Peabody for an hour, take selfies, sign autographs, things of that nature. I said sure and what was one hour turned into three hours. Everybody that came out came to see him. It was like ‘Thank you for everything.’ I think if he is able to figure out the issues he is dealing with, he would like to teach broadcasting at a community college in his next career.”

Analysis Of Boston's Two Major Free Agent Signings This Summer (Center Elias Lindholm and Left Shot Defenseman Nikita Zadorov)?

“They needed to address a number of areas of their game and of their lineup, and Elias Lindholm checks a lot of those boxes. The problem with people who have a problem with him is anybody who goes on July 1^st in the first hours of free agency, they get more money and more years than they deserve. It is just the fact of doing business. Same with Zadorov. Did he deserve his contract? Probably not. But those were two glaring omissions in last year’s lineup. So they had to go out, overpay, and overturn, which they were willing to do, and I admire them for that and the fan base should be happy about it.

“Now those emotions and feelings can change if they don’t perform. I understand that, but they did what they should have done. Lindholm will be like a poor man’s Bergeron because he can do a lot of things that weren’t there. He can play the bumper. He can win faceoffs at key times late in hockey games. He can be reliable. He is very bright. If you play him with a Pastrnak and a Zacha, I think fans will like what they see. I think Lindholm will like playing in Boston and I think he’s thick skinned enough to be able to handle it.

“Zadorov, you got to love 6’6 250. You got to love it. He blows people up. He has a chance to become a fan favorite. He is a little sleepy. He has moments of ‘What are you doing Nikita? Go get that puck! Make a play!’ But he is 29, and I have heard him speak and some guys say the right things and don’t get it done, but it seems to me he is at that point where he has really started to figure it out. That’s usually the way it is with defenseman of his style, his caliber. They’re trying to blow people up at 24, but now he understands body and stick position, and when he has that chance to blow someone up, he blows that guy up. He has a better knowledge of the game and how to utilize his skills and traits. He will get coached up in Boston, too.”

Do You Believe The Bruins Have The Pieces In Place To Win The Stanley Cup?

“I am very bullish on this team. They have a hole in their top six they need to get figured out. They need to figure out that goalie situation. The pieces are in place, but I have to tell you, I still wish they were in a major hockey trade mode. You know what I’m saying? They have been right there for two years, and they haven’t really pulled the trigger on it to my liking. But it is so hard to trade in the league. Like that Ullmark deal, they felt compelled to break up that goaltender tandem. Now I’m not in the room so I don’t know what is going on, but my understanding is the only way they could complete that deal is if they took Joonas Korpisalo back. I didn’t want him. Now he has proven he can be a good goalie on good teams, but I wanted that money so I can go get a top six forward because if you can’t get it in a trade, you got to go get it in free agency.”

What Are Some Of The Most Important Storylines To Watch This Season?

“One of the biggest storylines I will be watching and name to keep an eye on is Charlie McAvoy. I need Charlie McAvoy to mature as one of the best players or one of the best defenseman in the league. He has to mature to that this year. He's knocking on the door, right? He's not there yet. He doesn't take over the game like he can. His contract is kicking in at $9.5 million or whatever, and he's good enough to play to that salary. There are games when you're just like, 'Wow, look at him.’ But it's not there enough. I played with Raymond (Bourque). He knew when to do it, how to do it, and wanted to do it. I want that from Charlie because he has the ability and all of the tools to be one of the game’s best and I think for Boston to take their game to the next level and get to where they want to be, Charlie becoming that kind of player will play a big role in that.

“I love him. I love him as a kid. I love him as a player, and I don’t mean he needs to mature as an adult. He needs to mature as a superstar because that's what I want him to be. He's going to play 30 minutes per night, and he can do it. I want him to be one of the elite defensemen in the game, and know when to take over a game, how to do it, when to allow his teammates to do it. Don't do it at the wrong time and turn the puck over and make mistakes because you're forcing. That’s what I mean when I say mature as a superstar.”

On Brad Marchand:

“I want to see what kind of bounce back Brad Marchand has. He had his plate pretty full last year being captain of the team with all that turnover. He just had three surgeries. He was really banged up at the end of last year. He has some of the greatest will of any player I have ever played against or watched. He is one of the best players I have ever seen or covered. I think some of his antics may have overshadowed how good he is and still is, and I don’t know that we are beyond them. But his will to be better, to be a champion, to be the best version of himself, to be a great teammate. I remember hearing a story when Bruce Cassidy invited him and his family to his house when he took over the team. They went over his career and Cassidy asked him what he wants his legacy to be. Do you want to be known as a pretty good player who was a little rat of a player, or do you want to be known as a great player, great leader, someone all of your teammates look up to, someone who nobody can match your will? That really caught his attention. I love the kid. I am looking for a better year statistically with him.”

Is Marchand A Hall Of Famer?

“In my book he is. Some people value numbers and are they there yet? Probably not yet. But by the end of his career, I think they could be. People always say, ‘Well did he win a major award, did he score 1,000 points or score 500 goals?” His ability win battles along the boards with his size is just unbelievable. He’s a complete player and like I said, has a will to win and be great like no other.”

Thoughts On The Jeremy Swayman Contract Situation & His Role As The Clear #1 Goalie This Year? 

(This answer was given on September 4, 2024 – prior to Swayman's eight year, $66 million contract extension).

“Obviously even when the contract situation gets resolved, he is one of the storylines to watch also. Can he play 70 percent of the games? He has never done it. To be asking for, I think Spittin' Chiclets said around $10 million per year, I can’t believe that because he’s won one playoff round. But can Swayman hold the net down for that high percentage of games? I know he wants the net every night. He is a great kid. I love him. I really do. I think what he says is genuine and not out there for PR. How many times do you have the hammer in your career? He’s got it right now and he’s trying to use it but hey, we are getting close here to the regular season. A lot of people don’t realize if he doesn’t sign a new deal by December 1 he isn’t playing anywhere. He needs to get a deal done before then.

“I’d be shocked if they traded him, but some people do believe ‘Think of what you could get.’ But I don’t want to trade him. That is why I wanted the big trade with Ullmark. I was one of the only people saying when Ullmark won the Vezina, they should have traded him that summer. They could have gotten so much for him at the time, I liked Swayman, and there are so many teams who feel they are one goalie away who are willing to trade a lot to get that guy. But you also had issues with the no trade clause that made things difficult with an Ullmark trade.”

Other notes from the interview:

Brickley also spoke about some of the younger players on the roster. He says forward Johnny Beecher has lots of upside but needs to play a smarter game to become the player he is capable of becoming with his speed.

He said defenseman Mason Lohrei has plenty of skill and is not afraid of risk but needs to continue to develop his all-around game, but loves his potential on the third pairing within a deep and talented Bruin's defense core. He said as a whole, this defense core has the chance to be one of the best the Bruins have had in years.

Brickley said he feels fourth liners Mark Kastelic and Max Jones help them add more “sandpaper” to the lineup and make them a harder team to play against. He said fans will see a difference in this team's style of play early on in the season given the amount of size and physicality they have added both offensively and defensively.

Brickley really likes Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic as third line players, but is not sure if they can be second liners on championship teams. He said their development and growth in contract years could play a big role in how far this Bruins team goes.

He said Montgomery really likes Justin Brazeau, and believes Brazeau could even find a home on the Bruins second power play after a strong season last year. Brazeau has been in the Boston area working on his skating all summer.