Henry Brzustewicz showed off why he’s one of the top 2007-born defensemen in the USA. His skating is refined, being one of the most mature skaters in the class from the backend he can navigate his way around the ice effortlessly, opening up lanes and attacking with speed, his skillset and skating ability combine to form a dominant two-way defenseman. He shutdown many rush chances with a good active stick as he maintained strong gap control and picked his spots to land poke checks and or step up with the body to engage physical contact. Picking up 1 assist in the victory he moved the puck quickly and accurately, contributing nicely to the offensive production on the backend.

You’d have to try hard to not notice Henry. He’s a defender with size who uses sweeping back crossovers to garner power easily from a standstill. That first C-cut gives him momentum. He found ample moments to pinch deeper into the zone and pass into the slot area as well. With Henry, I found his offense came more from picking his spots to shoot with good timing rather than the strength of his wrist shot. I was hoping he would take a stride or two into the zone more and release with motion. He almost snuck a fivehole chance through off a breakaway attempt too. Coming out of the penalty box at the right time does have it’s perks.

Henry Brzustewicz was one of the main reasons the Shattuck’s penalty kill was so effective today, doing an excellent job in front of his own net, he was able to clear rebounds and get in the way of shooting lanes. His strength in his lower body really let him lean on players in front of his net, standing his ground and protecting his goalie’s crease as a result. When appropriate to do so he’d play the puck carrier aggressively in the corners, stapling them to the boards as the rest of his team came to help get the puck free and out of the zone. His active stick cut off many passes and passing lanes, pushing the Gamblers to the perimeter of the offensive zone where they could do very little to challenge the Shattuck goaltender. Brzustewicz made his goalie’s life extremely easy today whenever he was on the ice.

Scoring the ultimate game-winning goal for the Shattuck, Henry Brzustewicz was one of the top defensemen in this game from a 200-foot standpoint and showed off some strong offensive instincts. Brzustewicz is a good skater who relies on his edges and explosiveness to cut off opposing players’ routes when defending the rush. His ability to remain versatile while skating backward allows him to defend the rush with well-timed poke checks without getting caught flat-footed. Standing at 5’11 at just 14 years old Brzustewicz uses his size and speed to suffocate players in the offensive zone, giving them little time or space, shutting down passes and shot attempts regularly. Offensively Brzustewicz moved the puck quickly and combined his edgework with his puck handling abilities to become a dynamic and unpredictable force atop the offensive zone, particularly on the powerplay. Pocketing his goal by pinching below the dots on the powerplay, Brzustewicz reads the play well and knows when to pinch in the offensive zone, helping create offense and sustain zone pressure when opposing teams attempt to clear the puck.