Brent Peterson Knows John Cullen

Brent Peterson Knows John Cullen
By Tricia McMillan, AHL Correspondent

Something the average hockey fan notices pretty quickly is the age of the players, especially those just turning pro. Most players are drafted in the 17-to-19 age group and start their pro careers shortly thereafter. But what happens to the players who develop later in their careers?
When Lightning prospect Brent Peterson was of draft age, he had only just begun to play hockey on a serious basis and he wasn't of professional quality. "I was kind of a late bloomer, and I wasn't really sure where my hockey career would take me so I wanted to get an education," says Peterson, now 24. "That was more important to me at the time than playing hockey. I didn't want to be 24 and have no education to fall back on so that was my main reason for going to college."
Peterson, a native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, chose Michigan Tech largely for academic reasons, although the hockey aspects were also appealing. "I liked the coach there, the people there, and just the small town atmosphere," he says. "And I was going to get a lot of playing time there."
As it turned out, going to college gained Peterson the education he wanted (a business administration major, he's interested in a future career in the financial field), and also gave him the opportunity to demonstrate he was a very good hockey player. He earned the captaincy of the Michigan Tech Huskies and led the team in goals his junior and senior years, tallying 20 goals or more for three straight seasons, totalling 80 goals for his college career. He also caught a lot of attention from scouts who never noticed him earlier and he was drafted by the Lightning in the 1993 supplemental draft.
Peterson has split the season between Tampa and Adirondack, otherwise he'd likely be Adirondack's top scorer. As it is, Peterson has scored 31 points, including 15 goals, with Adirondack so far this season and at 6'3" he adds a lot of size to the team as well. Adirondack added a second affiliation with Tampa this year and Peterson has been one of the beneficiaries, as he played his first professional season in the IHL with the Atlanta Knights but much prefers the AHL.
"[The IHL] wasn't so much of a developmental league, players were a lot older and maybe finishing up their career there," says Peterson. "Here the players are coming into the league and being groomed for the NHL. It's such a great league to get experience and get some ice time in and learn, I think it's a great league for developing players."
That the arrangement in Adirondack is new to everyone didn't help the team at the beginning of the season, but Peterson believes the team has worked out any kinks they may have had to start the year. "I think it's going pretty well, everyone seems to be getting a lot of ice time and there doesn't really seem to be any problems between the two teams," he says. "I think everyone's fairly happy with the way it's going...we're playing a lot better than we did at the first half of the year. It was an adjustment for sure, meet half the team and expect to play well."
Peterson was first recalled to the Lightning early in November and remained there some six weeks, scoring his first two goals including his first NHL goal in Detroit, ironically enough. "It was a big thrill for me and hopefully I'll get a chance to score some more," he says of that game. His opportunity for more goals came sooner than expected, as two days after our interview he was recalled again and he remains with the Lightning as of this writing.
Of course, since Peterson has played a stint with the Lightning and is there now, this means he's been (and is) a teammate of LCS hero to millions, John Cullen. What does he have to say about our favorite player? That is, after he laughs at the question?
"He's funny, he's a lot of fun on the ice and he keeps everything loose," says Peterson. "He's a great player, very feisty. He's a skilled player and a guy you always want to have on your team."
Peterson believes fun is the most important aspect of hockey. "It is just a game, if you don't enjoy the game there's no point in playing it," he says, "But if you have fun and you work hard then everything else just seems to fall into place."