2020 Chatham-Kent Men’s Athlete of the Year: Brett Brochu

After a month of voting, totaling roughly 20,000 votes, Brett Brochu held on to his title as Chatham-Kent’s men’s athlete of the year. This year’s voting was sponsored by Maple City Homes and FamilyLending.ca.

Brochu was named the OHL’s Goaltender of the Month in both January and February, and Rookie of the Month in January.

In March, days before the lockdown, Brochu set an OHL Record for most wins by a rookie goaltender, breaking NHL alumni John Vanbiesbrouck’s record.

He also received the Dinty Moore Trophy for the OHL Goaltender with the lowest goals against average, and had the lowest overall GAA in the OHL, and second best save percentage.

Brochu was also named to the OHL’s First All-Rookie Team.

As the spring moved on, Brochu was invited to Hockey Canada’s World Junior camp. Although he was passed over in the NHL Draft, and released from Canada’s roster, most analysts said he outperformed his competition in camp.

Overall, Brochu took 36.06% of the total vote.

The runner-up for athlete of the year was Brady Stonehouse, an Ottawa 67s prospect (19.29%), followed by Zander Veccia (19.04%), Travis Konecny (13.39%) and Brendan Seys (12.21%).

Congratulations to winner Brett Brochu, runner-up Brady Stonehouse, the final 5, and all of the 2020 nominees.