June 1, 2022
by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor (@CHN_AdamWodon)
New BC coach Greg Brown (r.) with Jerry York.
Greg Brown was a standout at Boston College from 1986-1990, with a year off for the Olympics. He followed his brother Doug to BC. Both brothers went on to eventually play in the NHL.
After playing a few years in Europe, Brown returned to North America and landed a spot as a BC assistant coach in 2004, where he remained for 14 seasons, helping the Eagles win three national championships (2008, 2010, 2012). In 2018, he left to become an assistant coach with the New York Rangers under Dave Quinn, and last season, he was a head coach for the first time, in the USHL with Dubuque.
Last month, Brown was named the new head coach at his alma mater, tasked with the job of replacing Jerry York, the all-time wins leader in college hockey.
CHN: What did you learn in the USHL that helped you prepare for this job?
Brown: I had been an assistant coach for 17 years, so that opportunity to be a head coach is always helpful when you[‘re going for a head coaching job. No matter how much you’ve been around the game, it’s always a little bit different when you’re the head of the ship. So it did help me, just getting used to that aspect of being a coach.
CHN: Did anything surprise you in terms of how (much) harder or easier it was?
Brown: You have to be ready to talk all the time. (But) I don’t think it was massively harder or easier. You have a few different responsbilities. You don’t get quite as much individual time with players because you’re doing more broad strokes with the whole team.
CHN: Getting to some memory lane stuff, starting with the 1988 Olympics, that was a pretty stacked team with a lot of players who went on to have great (NHL) careers. What was your memory of that whole experience?
Brown: The whole season was incredible. We spent the whole season on the road, travelling and playing. We had so many talented players on that team and we got to be a very tight group because we were together 24/7 from August until February. We had a good team. It’s such a short tournament, anything can happen, so it didn’t go as well as we hoped. But I was still honored to be a part of it.
CHN: I saw you guys play at the Nassau Coliseum against a Russian B team of some kind, remember that?
Brown: I do. We toured with them. We probably played them seven,…
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