Photo courtesy of Andy Marlin/New Jersey Devils

William Proulx, OHA Communications Manager

NEW JERSEY - Brett Seney’s hockey career began when he was a child playing minor hockey in his hometown of London, Ont. and, like many Canadian children, he dreamed of playing in the National Hockey League (NHL). Fast forward seven hockey seasons and that dream came true for Seney as he appeared in his first NHL game Nov. 3. 2018 with the New Jersey Devils. 

Seney, who was selected in the sixth round (157th overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, previously played Junior A with the Kingston Voyageurs of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) for two seasons (2012-13, 2013-14) before moving on to play four seasons with the NCAA’s Merrimack College Warriors. 

Reflecting on his first professional season, Seney credits his hockey route for his early success. Seney was taken in the ninth round by the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals in 2012 but opted to play Junior A rather than take the major junior route. 

Seney and his older brother, Joe, had been “really interested” in playing in the OJHL and attended rookie camps prior to the 2012-13 season to see if teams would take interest and bring them in. 

Seney says his parents Peter and Angela, had let him look at all options but getting an education while playing hockey was something that was important for him. “Being from London, you have the Knights (OHL) playing here and you always kind of dream to play in that league...But growing up, my parents helped me a lot. They opened the door for me and showed me the different options. Getting an education at the same time as playing was big for me,” said Seney. 

“We heard some great things (about the OJHL) from some guys that we knew...We were invited to Kingston and then we were invited to their main camp,” said Seney. Seney and his brother were unsure where they were going to end up but they had their eyes set on cracking an OJHL squad. 

The two made the Voyageurs after main camp, a team that was coached by Colin Birkas. Looking back, Seney says the OJHL and Kingston were the perfect fit for him, and playing in the OJHL allowed him to develop and take a bit of a longer path to play professional hockey.

“It was a bit of an adjustment. Every level you go up, it’s going to be faster and the players were quite a bit older than me,” said Seney who was 16 when he made the Voyageurs. “I didn’t put up the numbers (right away) but that first year was a good learning experience and I adjusted to the junior lifestyle,” he said. 

In his first season with Kingston, Seney played all 49 games and scored three goals and 10 points. He added a pair of goals in 15 playoff games with the Voyageurs in the postseason. That season Kingston made it all the way to the Buckland Cup semifinals where they were defeated in seven games by the Newmarket Hurricanes. 

Not only did his rookie OJHL season allow Seney to develop as a player, but U.S. colleges were also watching. Merrimack College’s then associate head coach Curtis Carr was leading the school’s recruitment and was impressed with what he saw in Seney at a showcase in Cobourg. Carr and the college approached Seney to see if he’d have any interest in playing for the Warriors, so Seney and his father visited the campus, and he committed to play for the college at the start of the 2014-15 NCAA season. 

Seney says his commitment to Merrimack College was a huge confidence booster for him. “It was more about them showing interest in me and my game and that if I went there I’d be one of their top guys. That was something I wanted more than maybe going to a bigger name school,” he said.

His second season in the OJHL saw him produce at an incredible rate, and his points increased 690 per cent. He finished second on the Voyageurs in scoring with 69 points and in 10th place in league scoring at the end of the 2013-14 season. A more comfortable Seney potted 26 goals that year, too.  

“You kind of get that motivation to be a top player. That second year I showed that I really deserved those top line minutes. Coach Colin Birkas saw that (he was deserving of an increased role) and he gave me those minutes, saw that I could do a lot with them and I could do a lot for the team,” he reflected. 

Seney’s OJHL career was complete after a North-East Conference finals sweep sent he and the Voyageurs home in the 2014 playoffs. He did leave the OJHL with more than just points. In that 2013-14 season, he was one of the OJHL’s First-Team All Prospects and was named to the OJHL Second All-Star Team. 

Seney went on to play four seasons for the Merrimack College Warriors. While he was attending the college, based in North Andover, MA., he did an undergrad in business in his first three years and then earned his master's degree in business management in his fourth year. 

Seney led the Warriors in scoring in his freshman season with 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 34 games. He kept consistency each college season and would lead the Warriors in points each of his four years. He completed his college career by not only earning a Masters of Business Management but he racked up 115 points in 139 games with Merrimack. His point total has Seney ranked 10th all-time on the school’s all-time scoring list. 

It was at the end of his first season with the Warriors that Seney was drafted by the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. He had just completed a 26 point NCAA season and he was informed by his advisor that he was likely to hear his name called at the 2015 NHL Draft in Florida. 

He and some of his family headed to Florida and he was drafted. On hearing his name called in the sixth round, Seney said it was a “pretty special moment for him and his family.”

Upon completion of his final season at Merrimack College, Seney signed a two year entry-level deal with the Devils. From there, Seney made his professional debut with the club’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Binghamton Devils March 23, 2018. He recorded his first AHL point in that first game against the Rochester Americans. His first AHL goal came in game seven of his pro career against the Syracuse Crunch. Seney finished his stint with AHL Binghamton with eight points in 12 games. 

A summer of training led the 23-year-old forward to Devils training camp in fall 2018. While he was initially sent down to Binghamton, Seney was called up by the Devils early on in the NHL season. Officially Seney was called up Nov. 2, 2018, but he made his NHL debut Nov. 3 against the New York Islanders.

Seney said his longtime coach, Mark Dennehy, who coached him in each of his four seasons at Merrimack College and was later named head coach of the Binghamton Devils was the first to let him know he was being called up. Dennehy gave him a hug, congratulated Seney and then he was on his way to play for the Devils. 

“It was awesome. You’re just trying to stay calm and my parents were actually on their way down to Binghamton for the weekend so I had to call and tell them to re-route their GPS to head to New York,” Seney recalled.

He logged 11:00 minutes of ice time through 14 shifts while playing alongside Devils teammates, Drew Stafford and Blake Coleman.  “It was an awesome feeling. Just so much excitement, a little nervous but just to reach that pinnacle in your career is awesome,” Seney reflected on his first NHL game. 

Seney’s first NHL goal was a great perfectly placed wrist shot from the hash marks in front of the Winnipeg Jets net that beat Jets’ goaltender Connor Hellebuyck over his right shoulder. Assisting on Seney’s first NHL goal was Jesper Bratt and Damon Severson. 

Seney wound up playing between Binghamton and New Jersey for the remainder of the season and he finished with five goals, 13 points in 51 NHL games. In the AHL he scored three goals and 19 points in 26 games. 

“Before the season, if someone would have told me I was going to play 51 games in my first year I would have been pretty fired up. You have to take the positives from it, there’s definitely some negatives and ups and downs along the way but I deserved to be there (in the NHL)...and I can be there,” Seney said. “I think I proved a lot of people wrong this year but I think there are people out there that I proved right because I have had a lot of support over the years,” he added. 

“In my opinion, I am nowhere near the pinnacle I can reach, which gives me something to work on and build on for next season,” Seney said as he looks to crack the New Jersey Devils out of training camp in fall 2019. 

Seney says he doesn’t regret the path he took, especially because of how far it has taken him. After an offseason of training in London, he will look to make the Devils right out training camp and stick with them for a full 82 games in his second season.