Top scorer Connor Brown is golden for OHL’s Erie Otters

When Connor Brown first came to the Ontario Hockey League the expectations from others weren’t exactly high. He was taken by the Erie Otters in the 13^th round, 251st overall in the 2010 OHL draft.

By Brown’s own admission, he was small. Prior to joining the Otters he had debated going to play college hockey in the NCAA, where the style and pace is often better suited for a late bloomer.

“I think I weighed 128 pounds and was 5-foot-6,” says Brown. “I was just a little guy. I was very undersized.”

Three seasons later Brown has grown, though he’s not exactly towering presence. In a league where players are getting bigger and stronger much faster, the 19-year-old forward still looks very much like a fresh-faced kid.

“I always knew I’d come along, because I was one of the better players when I was younger,” said Brown, who is now listed at 5-foot-11 and 170-pounds. “I’ve put in a lot of hard work over the summers.”

He’s now seeing the fruits of that summer labour as the top scorer in the OHL with 19 goals and 27 assists in 23 games. As captain of the Otters, there’s also the added responsibility of helping guide a young team through unfamiliar territory.

“He’s hard on himself,” said Otters general manager Sherry Bassin. “We have a young core and the young guys see how he’s driven. He doesn’t cheat in practice and he’s a leader by conduct and it’s affects the rest of the players.”

On Thursday night in Oshawa, Brown skated as a member of Team OHL in a 5-2 loss to Russia in the Subway Super Series, a precursor to Canada’s world junior selection camp. Despite the loss, it was a big night for Brown, who had never played in a national event before. He’ll get another opportunity to impress Hockey Canada’s staff on Monday night in Sudbury during the second leg of the OHL series.

“I’ve always been a hard worker,” said the sixth-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2012. “So I always had faith that I’d be there, but I didn’t think I was going to have this kind of success. This is quite an opportunity I have here.

“I’m more than excited.”

Playing in Erie, however, means he’s not exactly a household name on the junior circuit – in fact he’s not even the most well-known Connor on his team. That honour, of course, belongs to 16-year-old phenom Connor McDavid. The two Connors have been playing together in Erie and Brown has been reaping the benefits of playing with hockey’s latest wunderkind.

“It’s great to play with him,” said Brown of McDavid. “I take full advantage of it being on his line. It’s pretty special getting to play with a guy like that, it’s a bit of a once in a lifetime kind of thing so I’m trying to make the most of it.”

At the Super Series, Brown was joined by McDavid and fellow teammate Adam Pelech. Having three players in the two-game series featuring the OHL was an important benchmark for the Otters in terms of finally having elite talent to showcase.

The Otters, with a 19-3-1-0 record, are the top team in the OHL with 39 points in the Western Conference. It’s a successful start that has been a longtime coming for the Otters, who last made the playoffs in 2010-11.

“We’re first in the league right now after two tough years,” said Brown. “We’ve worked hard for it. I’m not too worried about the spotlight, I’m just happy we have a good team.”

Last season the Otters won a total of 19 games during their 68-game schedule, a stat that’s not lost on Brown.

“I think we only got 19 wins all of last year,” said Brown. “We already have 19 wins this year, so I honestly didn’t think we’d turn it around so fast – but I had faith in the guys. I thought we’d probably turn it around in the back half of the season but we’ve started off great.

“It just seems like it’s finally come together there.”