Dudes Rock: The Whole Michigan Hockey Team Showed Up To Watch Gavin Brindley Make His NHL Debut
Ben Jackson. Getty Images.One of the best parts about the end of the NHL regular season is when you get all the college kids popping into the lineup to make their debut once their season ends at school.
Gavin Brindley was a 2nd round pick for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023. The fact that this kid made it all the way through the 1st round without getting picked is crazy. Granted, he was the 2nd pick in the 2nd round. But still. He had a massive sophomore year at Michigan with 25 goals and 53 points in 40 games. He was a massive piece of that USA team that won gold at the World Juniors this winter with 6 goals and 4 assists in that tournament. In other words, the kid was a total weapon this year. So after Michigan's season wrapped up last Thursday with a loss to BC in the semifinals, Gavin Brindley was on his way to Columbus to burn a year off his ELC and join the Blue Jackets.
Speaking of Blue Jackets, the rest of his boys from Big Blue weren't going to miss his first NHL appearance for anything. Classes be damned!
I mean…is there anything better than the boys? Life would feel meaningless without the fellas. Even if you have nothing in life, at least you have the boys. As the late great Aristotle once said, "what's better than this? Guys being dudes".
I don't know what's next for Gavin Brindley over the next couple weeks. Not sure if he has a chance to play at the World Championships or anything. But all I know is that he probably needs to make it back to Ann Arbor soon to pack up all his stuff. Here's to hoping he treats the boys to a big night with that new rookie deal he just signed. Life has to be great for any college kid whose best friend just started making $950K per year.