{"id":7743,"date":"2024-07-25T18:29:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T22:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flyers-cup-history.org\/?p=7743"},"modified":"2024-07-25T20:33:33","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T00:33:33","slug":"brian-oneill-hockey-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyers-cup-history.org\/?p=7743","title":{"rendered":"Brian O’Neill Hockey History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Brian O’Neill<\/a> went to and played for Germantown Academy High School of the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League, “ICSHL.” Brian played three years for the Patriots, in which they won the ICSHL title in 2005. In his first season, Brian was named Breakaway Magazine<\/a> Freshman of the Year. In his sophomore, and junior years he was named Breakaway Magazine<\/a> “Player of the Year”, and while the Patriots went to the Flyers Cup Finals in those years, they were runner-up both times. However, Brian was named the 2005 Flyers Cup MVP, and leading scorer. In 2006 Brian was again the Flyers Cup leading scorer award winner. He was the ICSHL Class AAA leading scorer in both 2005 and 2006. O’Neill was also a Varsity golfer as well with the lowest score in all three years. Leading up to his senior year, O\u2019Neill never seriously considered playing collegiately because it wasn\u2019t a popular route for other players in the area. He applied to a few Division III schools, including Skidmore, Bowdoin, and Middlebury, but received rejection letters from each. Ultimately, O\u2019Neill decided to take a gap year after getting drafted by Chicago Steel in the 13th round of the USHL draft. O’Neill played one season in the USHL for the Chicago Steel where he scored 23 goals, and 38 assists for 61 points in 60 games played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After playing in the USHL Brian transitioned to his college education and hockey career at Yale University where he was a four-year Varsity Ice Hockey letter winner. In his sophomore season, he led the team in points with 45 and ranked seventh among Division I players averaging 1.32 points per game. In his Junior season, the Los Angeles Kings offered him a contract, which after mulling over he opted to decline and return for his senior year. It was a selfless decision, focused on finishing his degree and developing his game \u2014 \u201cI wasn\u2019t ready to play in the NHL at that time,\u201d O\u2019Neill said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t ready to play in the NHL three years later. So turning pro early would\u2019ve been a huge mistake.\u201dHe was a three-time Ivy League champion, two-time Cleary Cup winner, two-time ECAC playoff winner, and second-all-time scorer with 163 points. He was a William Neely Mallory Award winner as top male athlete, All-American Honors, and awarded two-time first-team All-ECAC. Among other awards, he was also two-time first-team All New England, Ivy League Player of the Year, four-time Academic All-ECAC, and in his senior year, he was elected and served as Yale Ice Hockey team captain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all came together in Brian’s senior year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The culmination of years of youth hockey, USHL, and college hockey, leading his team in production for the third straight year accompanied by a league title, the Kings made a second offer. This time, he signed a 2-year, $1,125,000 contract with Los Angeles, including $1,125,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $562,500. Brian spent his first full pro season in 2012-13 with the Kings AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs. That year, O\u2019Neill struggled for ice time while members of the Kings played for the Monarchs during the NHL lockout. In his second season, he battled thoughts of \u201cAm I good enough to do this?\u201d Finally, in 2014-15, O\u2019Neill found his stride \u2014 in 69 games, he registered 78 points (including a league-high 56 assists), and he won the 2015 AHL MVP award and led the Monarchs to a Calder Cup. Strangely enough, Brian was the last cut in the Kings 15-16 camp and was subsequently traded to the New Jersey Devils. He split the season with New Jersey’s AHL affiliate, Albany Devils, and played twenty-two NHL games with the big club. After the season O’Neill was approached by the general manager of Jokerit Helsinki from the KHL, (Kontinental Hockey League) that GM was hall of famer Jarri Kurri. Brian took the offer and made the jump from the NHL\/AHL overseas to the KHL. In between playing time with Jokerit, Brian also participated on the men’s USA Hockey team in the 2018, and 2022 Winter Olympics. Brian played 6 seasons in the KHL before signing with ZUG EV of the Swiss-A league. He’s currently still playing for the same professional club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n