Brennan Kapcheck
Born (1996-11-17) November 17, 1996
Mount Prospect, Illinois, USA
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st 6 lb)
Position Defenseman
Shoots Right
Slovak team
Former teams		 HKM Zvolen
Toronto Marlies
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2021–present

Brennan Kapcheck is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing with HKM Zvolen in the Slovak Extraliga (Slovak). He was an All-American for American International.[1]

Playing career

Junior

A diminutive defenseman from the Chicago-area, Kapcheck graduated from Culver Academies in 2015 and continued his playing career. He spent two seasons with the Aston Rebels, helping the team win their division in his first year and then capture the regular season championship in his second. Kapcheck's 42 points were 6th on the team and the Rebels marched all the wat to the NAHL finals but were swept 0–3. He was the named as the East Division Defenseman of the Year and named to the All-Division and All-League teams.

College

With his junior eligibility exhausted, Kapcheck transitioned to college hockey. He began attending American International College in 2017, joining a program that had traditionally been a doormat, but the hiring of Eric Lang a year earlier presaged a possible change. Kapcheck got off to a fantastic start to his college career, being named Atlantic Hockey rookie of the month for October and was eventually awarded the league's Rookie of the Year. That season, the Yellow Jackets won 15 games, the most they had earned since 1993 (when they played in Division III) and won their first playoff round in eleven years. Kapcheck was a semifinalist for the Walter Brown Award, given to the best American player in New England and was nominated for the Hobey Baker Award (though he didn't make the final 10).

As a sophomore, Kapcheck's numbers remained flat but both he and the team saw vast improvements overall. AIC won its first ever regular season championship and also captured the Atlantic Hockey Tournament for the first time.[2] He was named first team all-conference for the first of three consecutive seasons and scored the winning goal in American International's first NCAA Tournament game. His junior season saw more of the same as the Yellow Jackets were the class of Atlantic Hockey and ran away with the regular season title. As the team was preparing to begin their postseason run, COVID-19 hit and the end of the college hockey season was cancelled.[3][4]

The start to the following season was delayed but Kapcheck's team was still a force in Atlantic Hockey. AIC lost just one conference game all season, capturing both the regular and post season championships, but the team was hamstrung by COVID in the second half of the year. Cancellations limited the Yellow Jackets to just 19 games, and American International looked out of sorts in their NCAA Tournament loss. Despite the unfortunate end, Kapcheck was regarded as one of the best defenseman in college hockey, winning the East pod POY and became just the second player in program history to named as an All-American.

Despite having a year of eligibility remaining, Kapcheck signed a professional contract after the season with the Toronto Marlies.[5]

Following two seasons under contract with the Toronto Marlies, Kapcheck emarked on a European career in signing a one-year contract with HKM Zvolen of the Slovak Extraliga on June 27, 2023.[6]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeague GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
2015–16Aston RebelsNAHL 50317208280440
2016–17Aston RebelsNAHL 5517254227121454
2017–18American InternationalAHA 397192624—————
2018–19American InternationalAHA 375202512—————
2019–20American InternationalAHA 332232561—————
2020–21American InternationalAHA 190181810 —————
2020–21Toronto MarliesAHL 60110—————
2021–22Newfoundland GrowlersECHL 232141632 1507713
2021–22Toronto MarliesAHL 20112—————
2022–23Newfoundland GrowlersECHL 585253059 1616710
AHL totals 80222 —————

Awards and honors

Award Year Ref
NAHL
All-East Division Team 2016–17
All-NAHL Team 2016–17
College
Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team 2017–18 [7]
All-Atlantic Hockey First Team 2018–19 [8]
2019–20 [9]
2020–21 [10]
AHCA East First Team All-American 2020–21 [1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Boston College, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin lead way with three All-American college hockey players apiece for '20-21 season". USCHO.com. April 9, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Men's Ice Hockey Year-By-Year Results". American International Yellow Jackets. Archived from the original on 2018-08-17. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  3. ↑ "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns". NCAA.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Remainder of 2020 Atlantic Hockey Tournament Cancelled". atlantichockeyonline.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Marlies Sign NCAA FA Brennan Kapcheck". Overtime Heroics. April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Kapcheck is the seventh signed foreigner". HKM Zvolen. June 27, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  7. ↑ "9 of 11 Atlantic Hockey Members Represented on All-Conference Teams". atlantichockeyonline.com. March 8, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  8. ↑ "All-Conference Teams Announced". atlantichockeyonline.com. March 14, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Atlantic Hockey All-Conference Teams Announced". atlantichockeyonline.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners". Atlantic Hockey. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
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