Whatever happened to... Drew Brown?

by Ryan Fay

When Union received a commitment from Drew Brown in the fall of 2010 for the following season, it was considered a big get.

Brown was from Grass Lakes, Michigan and Union had beaten out a storied program in Michigan for the services of one of their home state kids.  It happened before the Cleary Cups, the Whitelaw Cup, and the Frozen Four appearance. It was all the more impressive when one considers Union couldn't offer an athletic scholarship while Michigan could have.

"Michigan wanted him," Brown's prep school coach, Matt Herr, told the United States Hockey Report at the time. "They were pushing him hard to come there. But coach [Nate] Leaman at Union showed him that he would have a chance to be a top-two line guy with them."

Brown's arrival would have been at an important time for the program, which was then bracing for the loss of seven seniors, including the program's Division I era points leader, Adam Presizniuk, and a solid point producer in John Simpson.

In his final season of prep school hockey, Brown showed considerable offensive potential by amassing 51 points (22 goals, 29 assists) in just 27 games for Kent School in Connecticut.

The reports on Brown were as glowing as the statistics would suggest.

Brown (Providence)

"The thing that Drew brings to the table is he's a pure goal-scorer, a natural. He has a really good release with his shot," Herr told Mark Divver of the Providence Journal in May 2011. "He's a hard-working kid. He's a kid that'll work for everything he gets."

However, dreams of Brown bringing that scoring touch to Union came to an end when Leaman and assistant coach Ben Barr bolted for the same jobs at Providence. 

Brown decommitted and followed the pair to Rhode Island. It didn't hurt that Noel Acciari, a prep school teammate of Brown's, had previously committed to Providence for former Friars coach Tim Army.

The 20-year-old Brown ranked fifth on the Friars in scoring during his freshman season with 18 points (4 goals, 14 assists) in 38 games. The freshman showed discipline with just 8 penalty minutes all season.

But his sophomore season hasn't been an improvement. He's been in and out of the lineup for the last couple months and only has six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in 16 games. 

Touted as a "pure goal scorer," Brown has just seven goals in 54 career games with Providence.

"The hype about Brown probably outraced the reality," one Providence insider said. "Yes, he had very good numbers but that was in prep hockey. A year in the USHL might have given a better read on his future in Division I. However, I wouldn't call him a disappointment. He is a solid player who still has a chance as a junior and senior to put up some decent numbers."

Brown isn't the only near Union player that now plays for Providence.

"Two kids who play a prominent role and many more minutes than Brown -- Ross Mauermann and Stefan Demopulos -- likely would have ended up at Union if Leaman and Barr hadn't decided to move on to Providence.

"Both were pretty much unknowns coming out of the NAHL and USHL, yet they have emerged as very important players at Providence. Their success certainly speaks to Leaman's and Barr's ability to identify talent," the insider said.

Mauermann is second on the Friars with 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) in 25 games. Demopulos, currently out with an upper-body injury, is tied for third on the club with five goals in 12 games.

Though he would never officially play at Providence, goaltending recruit Julien Laplante also went to Providence with Leaman and Barr in the wake of an NCAA violation levied on him. See a related story on Laplante here.