‘man, i want to play here,' brown says after joining spitfires
defenceman jonathan brown quickly fell in love with the...
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new york native and nhl draft-eligible defenceman jonathan brown, who played last season for the powerhouse shattuck-st. mary's prep program in minnesota, has signed on with the windsor spitfires.
matt addington
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shattuck-st. mary's
defenceman jonathan brown quickly fell in love with the windsor spitfires.
a scarsdale, n.y. native, brown is verbally committed to yale university, but started exploring his options before university when the ncaa relaxed rules on accepting players from junior hockey.
“i never really considered the ohl,” the 18-year-old brown said. “i always wanted to play college hockey. i didn’t put any effort into trying to play in ohl. once they changed that rule, it became intriguing.”
brown played last season for the powerhouse shattuck-st. mary’s prep program in minnesota and one of his first junior stops was windsor when general manager bill bowler invited to attend a game.
“it was a great atmosphere,” the six-foot-two, 201-pound brown said. “honestly, the rink, the atmosphere and the fans. i think it was against kingston (a 7-1 win on march 6) and the rink was packed. there was a fight and everyone was into it and it was like, ‘man, i want to play here.’”
on friday, brown officially signed on with the spitfires.
“we think this is a great signing for our club,” spitfires’ general manager bill bowler said. “he’s a steady defender, a real good skater and i think there’s some offence that’s untapped.
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“he’s headed to the ivy league, so you know he has a brain, and it’s kids like this that you want to be part of your program. we’re fortunate he chose the windsor spitfires.”
brown’s father is an american, his mother is from france and the couple met in london, england, which is where he was born. the family moved to the u.s. when he was six.
new york native and nhl draft-eligible defenceman jonathan brown, who played last season for the powerhouse shattuck-st. mary’s prep program in minnesota, has signed on with the windsor spitfires.
dan hickling
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“definitely not just the same path as every other player,” brown said. “my dad’s actually form detroit. that’s another reason for windsor is that there’s a ton of family close.”
brown had plenty of junior hockey options before choosing windsor. he was drafted in 2024 by youngstown in the united states hockey league and in 2023 by connecticut in the national collegiate development conference.
“i could have played in the ushl, but i started thinking about my options,” said brown, who appeared in two games for youngstown this past season. “the ohl is an unbelievable league with great players and produces the most players to the nhl.”
brown helped shattuck-st. mary’s win the usa hockey youth tier i 18u national championship in april. brown scored a goal in the final that saw shattuck-st. mary’s beat the boston jr. eagles 8-1.
“i think i’m more of a defensive defenceman,” said brown, who had four goals and 26 points in 56 games for shattuck-st. mary’s prep team. “i embrace that role to play against other team’s good players. at the same time, transition the puck and make good plays, get shots from blue line, join the rush when there’s an opportunity and just play a well-rounded defenceman’s game.”
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brown is scheduled to join the yale bulldogs’ program for the 2026-27 season, but said he’ll likely put off his entry for a year.
“i intend on playing two years in windsor,” brown said. “i wouldn’t play an overage year, but to be honest, i think it’ll be a great time and i’m really excited for it.
“i’m a slightly bigger guy, so i don’t think (the transition) will be a problem. i just really hope it just helps my game elevate and brings it closer to a pro game. hopefully, windsor’s a great teacher and, with my playing style and the competition, i think it’s a good next step.”
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