Bethany Brausen embracing opportunity to offer a 'fresh set of eyes' at Bruins development camp

For the young skaters and goaltenders participating at Bruins development camp this week, they all have a clean sheet with Bethany Brausen.

Through the NHL Coaches' Association's Female Coaches Development Program and Diversity Guest Coach Program, a number of teams, including Pittsburgh, Colorado and Boston, feature female coaches at their development camps this week. The NHLCA announced the female coaches program in 2020 while piloting the guest coach program during the 2022-23 season. 

Brausen, an assistant coach with the University of St. Thomas' women's hockey team, has taken full advantage of the initiatives at her disposal in an effort to broaden her coaching resume, which includes a project with Vegas assistant coach Ryan Craig through the program as well as five years as an assistant coach with the University of Minnesota women's program. 

"I got involved with that [program] a few years ago... back when COVID had happened," Brausen said Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena. "Lindsay Pennal [president of the NHLCA] was the developer of it. So, I got into that programming really early, and even back then in the first year [during the pandemic] I was really fortunate I was able to work with Ryan Craig in Las Vegas. ... We paired and we did a presentation few years ago. Then as I continued on in the development program, I got different opportunities."

Brausen left Minnesota for St. Thomas in 2021, helping guide the Tommies through their first two seasons as a Division I program in the WCHA, typically regarded as the top division in women's college hockey. The last four national champions and 19 of 22 winners all-time have hailed from the WCHA. Despite the stiff competition, the fledgling Tommies improved from eighth to seventh from Brausen's first season to the end of 2022-23, which included a shootout win over No. 7 Minnesota Duluth. St. Thomas sees the promise in both of its rising programs, securing funding for a new arena for its men's and women's programs. It will open in 2025.

After the season ended, Brausen interviewed with the Bruins, including Don Sweeney, about the opportunity to guest coach at development camp. It was an easy fit. 

"I was able to interview with the Boston Bruins here, and it just seemed like there was a lot of overlap with what we were interested and the direction the programming is going for the organization," Brausen said. "So, I feel like it was a win-win for both sides."

Formerly a two-year captain at Minnesota, winning back-to-back national titles with the Golden Gophers as a sophomore in 2012 and a junior in 2013, Brausen has been able to provide the voice and analysis of an impartial evaluator with Boston throughout the week, while also being able to learn and grow as a coach herself. 

"I feel like what's really special about this opportunity is you come in and get fresh eyes on everything," she said. "For me, it's been just like an absolute whirlwind of excitement and energy. I get an opportunity, obviously, to get on the ice and get to know some of these guys, not only from a hockey perspective but a personal perspective, too, which has been pretty, like I said, overwhelming in the best way.

"So, getting the chance to work with people, the staff and these players ... I would say that I've been really impressed with everyone here."

The Bruins, who hired former Quinnipiac assistant Danielle Marmer as a player development and scouting assistant, have placed a particular emphasis on skill work and skating this week, especially with the defense group. Brausen understands the fine line of evaluating players during standalone skills sessions before seeing them in game-like situations. 

"I think some of the hardest parts about doing skill work, is you can have someone who's fantastic at skill work, right? Then you go into 5-on-5 plays and you're like, 'I wish that translated a little better,'" Brausen said. "Then you've got guys who, frankly, are not great skaters or not great at the skill work, but then you get them into a game setting, and they're one of the best competitors out there."

Like most at Warrior this week, she's been eager to get a look at the battle drills as well as Friday's all-important scrimmage, where all of the previous four days' work will hopefully come together.

"I think that's what's really exciting when you look forward to [Friday] is, how did this week help prepare them and help develop them to get to the spot where now they can translate what they've been learning into a 5-on-5 setting," Brausen said. "When they can, that's the complete package, right? You want players that can practice well, but it has to be able to show up in a game setting."

Whether at development camp this week or during the season at St. Thomas, Brausen deals with players at tender ages in their development and career arcs. For her, it's a two-fold approach, starting on the ice.

"The hockey component is a no-brainer. I mean, we've done more skills work here in the last week than sometimes we get with our college players all year," she said. "So I think it's really from a hockey perspective, getting down to those fundamental basics and really fine-tuning it. You go talk with the guys, and it looks like the simplest drill in the world, and then you go talk to them and they're like, 'Oh my gosh, this is insane. I feel like a second-grader again.' So, I think that's a huge part of it."

The second component, perhaps most importantly, is between the ears.

"I shared some of this messaging actually with the group, but a big part of it, too, is the confidence piece and the transition of really starting a professional career," Brausen said. "I think that sometimes we forget that these are still just young men, and they're really at kind of that cornerstone point in their lives where they're beginning these professional opportunities. 

"I think that's the whole point of it being a development camp. I love that it's called that because I think there's the opportunity to not only develop them as hockey players and the trajectory where they'll go, but secondary and frankly as a primary focus area as well, developing them in the sense that they're starting their professional careers. We get to be a part of that, which is pretty special."