HockeyBrouwer's effort lifts his dad's spirits

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CHICAGO - Not even his bushy, 57-day-old playoff beard could hide his emotions the day after Chicago Blackhawks forward Troy Brouwer checked in with two goals and an assist in the curtain raiser of the Stanley Cup final.

The 24-year-old Brouwer was a key performer in his team's crazy 6-5 come-from-behind victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at the United Center on Saturday night. Brouwer was thrilled and proud of his impressive performance that not only lifted the hopes of Chicago ending its 49-year-old Stanley Cup dry spell, but the entire Brouwer family.

Back on April 4, when Brouwer scored the game-winner in the Blackhawks' 4-1 win at home over the Calgary Flames in a matinee match, his father Don was rushed to Surrey Memorial Hospital with a brain aneurysm that required emergency surgery.

The Vancouver-born and North Delta-raised Brouwer skipped the final four games of the regular season to be with his father. Don, a retired electrician, is recovering across the street in a rehabilitation facility. He can carry conversations, but easily tires. He still has difficulty walking. But his doctor has promised that once he can walk up and down a flight of stairs, Don will be allowed to return home.

"He has a goal to work towards," his son said on Sunday.

To be able to score a couple goals and play as well as the younger Brouwer has recently has been an inspiration for Don. When Troy checked his mobile after the game, there was a text message from his father that read, "Great game. I'm so proud of you. Keep going."

"He was a little tired staying up to watch the game, but he had tears in his eyes," said Troy, who was informed of his dad's spirits after the game by his sister. She watched the big win with Don in the rehab centre.

Picture of perseverance

Troy has been a picture of perseverance throughout this career. He wasn't drafted by the Blackhawks until the seventh round and 214th overall in the 2004 NHL entry draft.

As a youth he played on the same Pacific Vipers team with current Chicago teammates Brent Seabrook, Andrew Ladd and Colin Fraser. Coached by former Vancouver Canucks John Grisdale and Harold Snepts, the team was dominant. During one stretch they won 25 consecutive tournaments.

Brouwer graduated to the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL, but was asked to stay back and play an overage season as a 20-year-old. It was worth it because Brouwer won the Bob Clarke Trophy as the league's scoring leader with 49 goals and 102 points and the Warriors advanced to the 2005-06 WHL final.

He played 146 games in the minors, was named to the AHL all-rookie team and the second all-star team in 2006-07, before he was given a full-time spot on Chicago's roster.

In his second full season with the Blackhawks, Brouwer enjoyed a breakout year with 22 goals, one of six Chicago forwards to score 20 or more goals. But his father's health scare influenced an early playoff swoon.

He had no points and was a minus-five after the first eight games of the post-season. So Chicago coach Joel Quenneville benched the young forward. He sat out Games 3, 4 and 5 of the second-round series against the Canucks, just when he returned home to see his father for a second time.

Sound advice

The older Brouwer told him to work hard and his chance would come. It did. He returned to the lineup when the Blackhawks traveled back to Vancouver for Game 6. He scored his first Stanley Cup playoff goal. He scored again against the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference final.

Coincidently, the player Brouwer replaced on Chicago's second line with Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa was Tomas Kopecky. The latter returned to action for the first time on Saturday against the Flyers because Ladd is out with an injury. Kopecky scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period.

"A little bit different," Brouwer replied, when asked if his first foray into the Stanley Cup final met his expectations. "Normally you expect a tight-checking game, not the wide-open style it was [Saturday] night.

"The excitement is everything I could have imagined. Leading up to the game it was unbelievable. The atmosphere in the building was something. Guys were all excited and I was no exception."

Brouwer has plenty of support here in Chicago. His mother Kathy, a nurse at B.C. Women's Hospital, is in town along with the parents of Brouwer's wife, Carmen. He had plenty of text messages after the game and later spoke to four of his buddies who threw a party in the house they rent in Vancouver to watch the game.

"You want people who you love and care about to experience something like this," Brouwer said. "There were a lot of hugs and kisses last night after I got out of the room. Everybody's excited, everybody's happy."

When Brouwer left the United Center on Sunday, he planned to phone his dad. That's something he tries to avoid on game days, even though his father is on his mind.

"I usually leave that alone because I want to focus on hockey," Brouwer said. "It's always difficult when I do talk to my dad because I'm not able to be with him."

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