Ice Hockey - 2024

Brett was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in Pasadena. He played for the Pasadena Maple Leafs for nine years, in Westminster for one year, and for the Junior Kings for two years before he left home at 16 to participate on the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Brett played in the 1998 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Los Angeles Junior Kings’ minor league ice hockey team. His high school GPA was 4.2, and he spent four years at Colorado College.

Brett accumulated 108 goals and 184 points in 150 games played over his college career. His best collegiate season came in 2004–05, when he had 34 goals, 29 assists and 63 points. That year, he was a top 3 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey’s top player.

He was a professional ice hockey left winger, who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Atlanta Thrashers, Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues. Brett was selected by the Thrashers in the 5th round (145th overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. In his first professional season he won the Willie Marshall Award as the AHL’s leading goal scorer, and the Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award as Rookie of the Year.

Brett also represented the United States in three junior level competitions, the 2002 Under-18 World Championships, and the 2003 and 2004 World Junior Championships. He scored 9 goals and 12 goals in eight games helping the U.S. Under-18 team win its first-ever gold medal. In 2004, Brett scored 3 goals as part of the gold medal winning US squad. He retired from professional hockey in 2018.