| Brennan Othmann | Don Mills Flyers U15 | GTHL | L | LW | 6’0″ | 175 | Flint Firebirds | 2019 | Pickering, ON | 2003 | 2020-2021: A |
Neutral Zone NHL’s Ian Moran’s comments, June 2021: I love how this kid plays. How he competes. He’s been able to find the scoring area and put the puck home since he was a young player with Don Mills, but all you rally need to know about him and the impact he can have on a game or team happened at this year’s U18 World Championships. There was one minute and fifteen seconds left in the gold medal game versus Russia with Canada having a defensive zone face-off. This is where you can tell who the coaches trust. Who has the attention to detail that makes teams successful, and wouldn’t you know it Brennan is coming off the middle hash mask to force the Russian defender on a loss or to be the strong side support on the win. It was only a ten second shift, but he executed it perfectly. He showed an explosive start, an active stick and a mature willingness to be poised & patient in the defensive zone away from the puck. All told in the final four minutes of the Gold Medal game Brennan, the goal pure scorer, was on the ice for two minutes and five seconds. Yes please.
OHL Gold Cup, May 2019: A member of the top offensive line in Ontario Minor Midget hockey during season Othmann continued to produce offensively with new linemates at the Gold Cup. He was arguably the best all around player of the tournament. He competes hard each shift in all areas of the rink and is physical in the corners banging bodies to gain possession of the puck. He has a knack for seeing a play develop and an open player in the slot or around the net and also putting the puck in the back of the net himself. Othmann led the tournament in scoring and continued show very well in powerplay situations in good scoring areas. OHL Team: Flint Firebirds – 1st Round, 2nd Overall Grade: A
Canada Winter Games, March 2019: Good playmaker off the rush and making accurate passes. Great hockey sense and read plays quickly. Slid into open areas in the offensive zone instinctively and made plays in tight areas. 10 goals, 16 points for tournament. Did it in the other end as well getting in shot lanes to block shots game in and game out. Also showed great gritty net front presence taking the goalies eyes away, tying up defenders, and pouncing on loose pucks. Grade: B
2018 Minor Midget International Silver Stick, December 2018: Othmann continues to lead the age group in goals inside 10 feet. He knows where the net is and shows speed, IQ, and grit to get into good scoring areas. Othmann continues to improve his pace and skating as the season progresses and we viewed Othmann as one of the best pure scorers in the Whitby tournament. He continues to find himself with open looks, empty nets, and tip in chances on nearly every shift and has the ability to put up very productive scoring streaks.
Wendy Dufton Memorial Tournament, November 2018: Othmann the tournament scoring leader with 25 points in 8 games, Othmann has a knack for finding open ice in the house and elude being defended. In our Titans Tournament report we discussed Othmann being snake bit on a number of chances — he filled the net at the Wendy Dufton tourney and scoring goals in lots of ways. He is not afraid of the physical play and did his fair share of work in the corners or in front of the net getting dirty. He has great wheels and has a good synergy with his line-mates, playing hard in the offensive zone and buzzing around, cycling and creating numerous chances every shift. He has the smarts to take the puck wide and delay for support. On a deep team, Othmann is a consistent offensive threat. It is hard to judge his play defensively as his team has puck control for most of their games.
Toronto Titans Minor Midget Tournament, September 2018: Othmann a left shot winger who has decent size and is a good skater (balance and speed). He played the body well in all 3 zones and was responsible with the puck in all 3 zones. A composed winger with good hands and a high hockey IQ Othmann found himself with open looks all weekend. He didn’t finish a number of chances and open looks this weekend but we don’t see this as a problem as his combo of size, speed, and hockey sense will continue to get him open looks this season.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images