‘Let that be your welcome to the NHL moment’

NEWARK, N.J. — Brenden Dillon was almost a member of the Manitoba Bisons men’s hockey team.

The New Jersey Devils defenceman shared the turn-back-the-clock confession when talking about his hockey journey toward 1,000 NHL games and beyond, before facing the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

“For me, not getting drafted into the WHL draft or the NHL draft, you start to doubt every once in a while,” said Dillon. “That season (2010-11), I was starting to have UBC (University of British Columbia) and U of A (Alberta) and even University of Manitoba reaching out asking, ‘what are you thinking next year for college and university?’

“That was my reality at the time.”

Dillon never got around to having to make the choice about which U Sports program to join or what faculty he might prefer.

That’s because fate intervened during his 20-year-old season with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League.

One December day, near the Christmas break, Thunderbirds general manager Russ Farwell let Dillon know that a couple of NHL executives from the Dallas Stars were interested in a meeting with him.

After hearing who the meeting was with, Dillon did some research on Les Jackson and Shane Churla.

Dillon wasn’t going to leave anything to chance. He pulled out all the stops and was dressed to impress.

“I wore a suit and a tie. I had my hair done,” said Dillon. “At the time, it was the biggest meeting I had ever had. I had never talked to that level of an NHL executive.”

Jackson and Churla were already familiar with the player, the meeting with Dillon was about getting to know the person — to see what made him tick.

Dillon came away from that meeting encouraged about what the future could bring.

“I met them at a Kent Station Panera Bread, right across the street from where the Thunderbirds play,” said Dillon. “It was my overage year and I was fortunate to be named captain that year and have things go well for me. The (Stars) were the first team that talked to me.

“When Shane and Les talked to me about my skillset and how it could translate into pro hockey, it started to click with me, that, ‘wow, this could be a possibility.’ As the year transpired, it turned into an NHL contract which, at the time, was the biggest deal ever for me in my hockey career. I owe those guys a lot.”

Dillon, now 35, didn’t need long to give the Stars some valuable return on their investment as an undrafted free agent signing.

Near the end of his first full professional season, Dillon was recalled by the Stars and made his debut at American Airlines Center against the St. Louis Blues.

“At home, in Dallas, on the first shift of the game, I came around the net on a breakout and David Backes absolutely blew me up and he knocked the wind out of me,” said Dillon. “When I got back to the bench, (Stars assistant coach, the late) Paul Jerrard, the defensive coach and Winnipegger, he kind of leaned over and he said, ‘hey, let’s let that be your welcome to the NHL moment.’”

That welcome to the NHL moment was the first of many memories for Dillon on the road to hitting and eclipsing 1,000 games — which is an outstanding accomplishment — and would go on to knock the wind out of many opponents, given his hard-nosed and hard-hitting nature.

“It’s just incredible,” said Dillon, taking a moment to reflect on the journey. “The clip that seemed to go viral a little bit was that I just wanted to play one, which was the truth. I grew up playing minor hockey for my hometown and then going off to junior hockey and playing in the Western Hockey League. With how crazy the schedule is in the NHL, I haven’t really had a chance to sit back and be like, ‘wow, I’ve played 1,000 games.’ But then again, I’ve been fortunate. I think I was the 17th undrafted D-man to do it.

“Looking back at the journey, all of the teammates and all of the places I got to play and then to play in Canada and to have my family see a good chunk of those 1,000. All of it, it’s just amazing.”

When Dillon was presented with his silver stick to capture the milestone, one of the logos he saw belonged to the Jets, where he played 246 of those games over three seasons.

“To be able to be closer to home and to be able to get to go play in Canada, in Winnipeg, where I still talk to and consider a lot of those guys still on the team to be very good friends,” said Dillon, noting that his daughter was born in Winnipeg. “To be part of the Whiteouts. I still remember the goose bumps from when we played Vegas (in the Stanley Cup playoffs), that stuff that just sticks with me.”

In signing a three-year deal with the Devils in the summer of 2024, Dillon joined his fifth NHL organization.

He’s loved every one of his stops, but has also been subjected to the business side of the game, getting traded on three separate occasions: from the Washington Capitals to the Jets, from the San Jose Sharks to the Capitals and that first deal that sent him from the Stars to the Sharks.

“At the time, getting traded to San Jose, it felt like my life was over,” said Dillon. “The tears, the emotion, I had never been traded before. I didn’t know what that looked like, as a young, single guy who had grown up together with those guys in the AHL. First games, first goal. You think I’m going to play 10 or 15 years and I’ll retire in Dallas and life will be good. That’s just not the way that the book was scripted for me.”

That script included a few more twists and turns, whether it was working with Hall of Famer Larry Robinson, who coached the defence with the Sharks when he arrived, skating alongside Alex Ovechkin (who would become the greatest goal scorer in NHL history) or playing with a future Hart Trophy winner in Connor Hellebuyck.

Making Dillon’s ride even more impressive is how he’s done everything the hard way and earned every shift that he’s taken.

“I love the way he plays, I really admire his game,” said Jets defenceman Luke Schenn. “He just competes every single night, does a lot of hard things that probably don’t get noticed all the time, whether it’s blocking shots, sticking up for teammates, playing physical, obviously solid defensively and he makes a good outlet pass, too.

“He’s just a total pro. The first thing that comes to mind is whether you’ve got a veteran team or a young team, that’s the type of guy that you want to have on your team. He does everything the correct way.”

winnipegfreepress.com/kenwiebe