Hockey Confidential (22 page)

Prust got the off-season surgery to remove the tendon. He can no longer bend his ring finger on his left hand, but he was able to sign his four-year, $10 million contract with Montreal that summer just fine.

In his first two seasons with the Habs, he had a pair of shoulder separations—one left, one right, one each season. He had an oblique strain, which he came back from, only to aggravate it and miss the last month of the 2013–14 season. He was out of the lineup for a total of 40 of his first 130 regular-season games in Montreal.

“The last couple of years in Montreal have been great years,” Prust said on the eve of the 2014 playoffs. “I've had great fun, the most fun I've had in [pro] hockey. I can't imagine how much more fun it would be if I didn't have the injuries.”

Brandon Prust would never ask anyone to feel sorry for him.
Quite the opposite, in fact. He chose the life he leads, and he embraces all the consequences and rewards that go with it. He couldn't be happier. He's living the dream. His Nonni Georgina passed away when Brandon was 22, in his second year as a pro. His Granda, Jimmy McQuillan, died in 2013, and lived to see Brandon establish himself as a full-fledged NHL player. Brandon knows if they're looking down on him now, his Nonni would still be offering to pay him to not fight and his Granda would be sitting at the glass, exchanging high fives on Brandon's way out to do battle as an NHL warrior. He still has his grandmother Lillian, his mom's mom, who has made a point of trying to watch, on the internet or on TV, most every game Brandon has played since he was 18 years old

His perspective on life has been shaped by a loving, close-knit family that instilled in him a sense of community and deep level of caring, evident by his charity work with cancer-stricken kids in London. The Kids Kicking Cancer program allows youngsters battling the disease to get instruction in the martial arts while they're in the hospital, which in turn helps them to learn to breathe, manage pain, feel good about themselves, live for the moment and continue to fight the good fight.

Which, in a manner of speaking, goes to the very core of who Brandon Prust is and the life he's always felt he was meant to have, the one he's living to the fullest.

“All I know is when I'm 50 years old, no matter what,” Prust said, “I'm not going to say I would have done anything differently. You'll never hear me say that.”

•   •   •

NHL forward Brooks Laich, in one of the great hockey quotes
of all time, once said: “If you want money, go to the bank. If you want bread, go to the bakery. If you want goals, go to the net.” Well, borrowing a page from Brooks, if you want to talk fighting in the NHL, go to Brandon Prust. The Montreal Canadien forward is something of an expert, and over lunch on the final Tuesday of the 2013–14 NHL regular season, Prust talked candidly about all things fighting. Here's the transcript of that interview.

BM:
This is probably a stupid question, but I'll ask it anyway: What's it like to get punched in the face?

BP:
It doesn't feel good. [
He laughs.
] But you know, when we play with pain, it's kind of a rush for us. If, after a game, I've got a sore leg from blocking a shot or a sore face from eating a punch, it's actually a feeling of being proud of yourself, it's the proof you battled that day. I don't fight where I eat a lot of punches. I'm a smart fighter; I try to limit the number of punches I take. But, yeah, getting punched in the face is not something I look forward to.

BM:
I'm guessing it's a better feeling to punch someone in the face than to get punched?

BP:
It feels a lot better. [
He laughs.
] I always try to punch someone in the face more than they punch me. [
He laughs again.
] When I fight, it's not like I hate the guy or I'm mad. When I fight, I'm totally calm. It's business. I'm trying to out-strategize the guy, wait for my openings. When you hit someone and connect, it's like, “He felt that one.” That's what you're thinking.

BM:
Is being in a fight more exhilarating or scary?

BP:
It's both. I'm nervous going into every fight, but it's that fear that makes me a good fighter. I can admit it's nerve-racking, especially some of the guys I fight. But once the gloves drop, my nerves go away. It's just me and him; nothing else really matters except how I'm going to win that fight and not get beat up. My heart is beating like crazy when I ask someone to go, but once the gloves drop, I'm calm.

BM:
What's the key to winning a fight?

BP:
I think you have to be in control of your aggression. I know that when I do badly in my fights, it's when I really hate the guy—it's when I really want to hurt him. That's when I don't fight so well. I fight better when I'm calm and in control. Fighting is about using your brain. You have to know what punches are coming, what hand he punches with, what hand he grabs on with.

BM:
Is it important to win a fight or more important to just show up?

BP:
Both. It's important for me to win a fight. I hate losing fights. But it's definitely more important to show up, to stand in there and stick up for teammates or your team. Show that courage, get your teammates going.

BM:
Do you study your own fights? Watch video?

BP:
Definitely. If I get in a fight, I'll usually watch it right after the game, on the bus on the way to the airport. I watch it on YouTube or on
HockeyFights.com.

BM:
What about before a game, preparing for a fight? Do you watch video of potential opponents?

BP:
Yes, I'll watch, especially a young guy coming into the league, I may not know him. A lot of the older guys, I obviously know all about them. I don't need to see video of them. But new guys, young guys, I need to know how they fight. I'll strategize, go through in my head how I'm going to fight them. I'll do that more than I will think about the game, because you just play the game. The fighting, though, is on your mind the most. I like to fight right away if I can, try to get it out of the way and focus on playing hockey. If you know a fight is coming, it's harder to focus on playing. If the fight doesn't come until the third period, I'm an awful hockey player for the first two periods, because it's in the back of my mind. I'm thinking, “When's he coming for me?” or “When am I going to go after him?”

BM:
So before a game, will you look at their lineup and say, “Okay, I am going to fight this guy or that guy?”

BP:
Yeah, a lot of times what I do is look at their lineup and say, “This guy might come after me, that guy might come after me.” Or I'll say to myself, “I'm going after this guy tonight.” I may decide ahead of time I'm going after this guy on the first shift. I'll do that more if we've lost a couple of games in a row, if I feel like I need to get the team going right away.

BM:
Have you ever arranged a fight ahead of time with the guy you're going to fight?

BP:
No, but there are guys you've fought your whole career, you just know you're going to fight them. You don't have to arrange it. You both just know. Like if I'm playing Cam Janssen, we know we're fighting. Now, I also know I can sometimes say no to him. Or he can say no to me. One of us is going to be looking for the other guy. That's just the [unspoken] agreement we have. Nothing's actually arranged, but it's understood. We both have a lot of respect for each other and what we do. If he says, “No, I'm not fighting you now,” I'm fine with that. But there are games when I just know if I ask him, he's going to say yes. Those are the games [when] I'm most nervous, because I know I'm going to ask him and I know he's not going to say no.

BM:
There's always been a lot of talk about “the Code” and what it is. Do you know what the Code is?

BP:
Yeah, for sure. I could write the Code. It's all about respect and honour. I'm not sure in the old days, there was that amount of respect. They hated each other when they fought. I'm sure there was a Code back then, but it's changed. It's about respect now. If a guy falls down, you don't hit him when he's down. There are not that many rules to the Code, really. It's just about not taking advantage of a guy when he's down and out. You want to fight people, but you don't want to seriously injury them.

BM:
A lot of people would say that doesn't make sense. I mean, what's the purpose of a fight besides punching them in the face and possibly hurting them?

BP:
For sure, you are trying to punch a guy in the face, and yeah, it's a war, but if the guy is laying there, you have to let up and not take advantage.

BM:
I think the confusion on the Code is that some will say if you're asked to fight, you have to be honourable and accept, yet some guys refuse to accept the fight and they'll have their reasons for doing that. It strikes me that there are a lot of provisions in the Code—when you have to fight, when you should fight, when you can turn down a fight—but it seems like a moving target sometimes.

BP:
I definitely agree that part of the Code is you should have to answer the bell sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes you have to. If you're a player who makes big hits—guys like [Dion] Phaneuf, even P.K. [Subban] on our team, there are guys who make big hits in hockey, and that's great, that's the way to play the game—I don't think those guys have to answer the bell
every
time they make a hit, but they should answer once in a while. I mean, a guy like Brooks Orpik, he runs around out there, makes all these big hits, but doesn't drop the gloves. I don't respect that. If you're going to try to injure our players [with big hits], you've got to be prepared sometime to face the music. That's everybody's call they have to make. You can't do what [Boston's] Shawn Thornton did [knock out a defenceless Orpik with a punch, for which Thornton was suspended 15 games], and I know Shawn feels bad about that, but you can't really do anything about it if they don't [want to fight] except maybe try to hit them even harder.

BM:
In your mind, what are the best and worst reasons for having a fight?

BP:
The best reason is sticking up for a teammate if it's a vicious hit on your guy. The other best reason is to help your team if it's down and needs a spark or you need to get the crowd going. Protecting a teammate or getting your team going, those are the best reasons. The worst reasons to fight . . . hmmm, I don't think there is a worst reason to fight. [
He laughs.
] Obviously, if you're down 5–1 and it's the last five minutes of the game and you start a fight, it's like, “Why are you acting like a hero now when you could have asked me to fight in the first period?”

BM:
You're a big fan of mixed martial arts fighting. Do you use any of that training to help you with fighting in hockey?

BP:
When I met my buddy [UFC fighter] Sam Stout five years ago—we're both from London, we didn't grow up in the same area, but we knew of each other—we became good friends right away. I started training with him. I do my regular [off-season hockey-related strength] training, but also I train in the ring with Sammy to work on punching. It's been tough the last couple of years with my injuries. I've been limited, by the time my injuries heal up.

BM:
Do you know how many fights you have had in your career?

BP:
Total?

BM:
Yes—OHL, AHL, NHL, pre-season, regular season and playoffs.

BP:
I think it's close to 250.

BM:
As of today [April 8, 2014], it's 264, according to
HockeyFights.com.
That's a lot of fights.

BP:
It is a lot, isn't it?

BM:
Do you know who you've fought the most?

BP:
It's gotta be Cam Janssen . . . or Adam Keefe.

BM:
You're good. It's Keefe. Kitchener vs. London. Minor pro. I count nine fights with Adam Keefe and seven with Janssen. Imagine how much higher the Keefe number would be if he played against you in the NHL. The fights with him were in junior or the AHL—the last one was in 2008.

BP:
[Keefe] is one of those guys I talked about [who, if] we were playing against each other, we knew we were fighting. I thought Janssen would have been the most.

BM:
You've had a lot of multiple fights with the same guy—Paul Bissonnette, Mike Brown, Brad Staubitz, Kelsey Wilson, Nathan McIver, Rick Rypien, Milan Lucic, Chris Neil, Zac Rinaldo . . . By the way, is there not a rule against fighting former London Knights [like Rinaldo]?

BP:
Nope. [
He grins.
] I was never teammates [with Rinaldo]. If I'm playing for the New York Rangers and he's playing for Philadelphia, it's going to happen.

BM:
Do you remember who your first NHL fight was against?

BP:
Rick Rypien?

BM:
No, it was Jody Shelley.

BP:
You're right. I was just called up. It was my second NHL game. In Columbus. I went after him.

BM:
What was more exciting: your first NHL game or your first NHL fight, which came in your second NHL game?

BP:
My first NHL game, in Detroit. My whole family was there. I think I played pretty good. I think I played maybe eight minutes. Felt like it, anyway. It felt like 20 minutes to me. Hasek was the goalie. I was playing against [Pavel] Datsyuk, [Henrik] Zetterberg and [Nicklas] Lidstrom. That was pretty cool playing against those guys.