Playing youth hockey in Jersey set the foundation for the player Brett Pesce is today
For Brian and Alyssa Pesce, parents to Brett, the path to the NHL didn’t begin with grand expectations for their son. They wanted him involved in sports, having fun, and being active.
It started with youth hockey practices, long drives across the Northeast, and a family simply supporting a kid who loved to play.
Now, the New Jersey Devils’ journey has come full circle – returning to the region where his development truly began.
For his father, Brian, watching that journey unfold has been equal parts pride and perspective.
“He had a gift,” Brian said. “Ever since he was about four years old, you could see it. But it was always going to be up to him what he wanted to do with it.”
Brett initially played in the New York system with the Westchester Vipers, but the Pesce family could see that Brett had “a little bit of a gift”, as Brian explained.
“He really wasn’t being pushed in that organization.”
So that’s why, through the recommendation of some of Brian’s friends, the move was made to put Brett in the New Jersey system and join the Avalanche. That moved significantly shaped his development, Brian shared.
Though Pesce grew up in Tarrytown, New York, many of the most important steps in his hockey development happened in New Jersey. When Brett joined the Ice House Avalanche program in Hackensack, Brian now sees it as a move that changed the trajectory of his son’s potential.
“That’s really where things started to take off,” he said.
Although his travel hockey would require long, and sometimes grueling stretches through traffic, it was all worth it. It was an investment in Brett’s future, but also was part of the foundation of the Pesce family: they could spend time together. Especially on those car rides.
“Absolutely positively the best. Positively the best,” Brian beamed. “You know, even if Brett would be tired after a game, we’d always end up talking, about things other than hockey. Maybe it was school or a girlfriend or how we got in trouble in school.”
Brian credits Brett’s coach, Dan May, with being critical to Brett’s development.
Rather than emphasizing individual skill, May focused on the fundamentals of team hockey, from puck movement, anticipation, and defensive awareness. Those lessons became foundational to the style Pesce now brings to the NHL.
It all started with youth hockey in Jersey.
“He really implemented a system of puck movement,” Brian said of watching May coach his son. “Everybody was involved. One thing he did say to Brett was, ‘What moves faster, your feet or the puck?’ That stuck with Brett.”
“To me, that went a long way for Brett’s development,” Brian added.
Brett Pesce hosts a youth clinic for the Devils Learn to Play Program
The other thing, and perhaps the most important, was the environment that May created around his team. And it speaks to the type of teammate Brett is.
“It was like team first, no superstars, even though he had very, very good, talented players on that team,” Brian shared. “But they truly played as a unit. So that’s what I really loved about Dan May.”
Everything Brian shares about his son’s time growing up in the New Jersey system feels familiar. Each characteristic, either as a player on the ice, or a teammate in the locker room, continue to exemplify who Brett is today as a member of the New Jersey Devils.
The New Jersey system, as a youngster, set the foundation.
Eventually, it’s time to once again take the next step.
Brett played hockey because it was fun. And though he certainly had dreams as a kid of making it to the NHL and becoming a hockey player, it wasn’t until he saw some of his Avalanche teammates receive interest from college programs or scouts that Brian saw a real change in his son.
Brian and Alyssa loved that their son just loved to play hockey; they didn’t have an interest in following the scouts around or putting that extra pressure on their son.
“Other parents walked around with a notebook,” Brian laughed. “So Brett says, “You know, Dad, they’re all getting looks for college.” He says, “What is that about?” I said, “Brett, honestly, I just don’t know. We really didn’t have our sights on that.”
“That’s when he caught the fire,” Brian continued. “He said, ‘Dad, I want that.’ And I told him, ‘Well, then you’ve got to work harder.’ From that point on, he really lit the ignition.”
It turns out, that perhaps, even without knowing, Brett was getting a look too. He continued to put in the work and eventually there was interest from colleges.
And once again, Dan May stepped up to help shape Brett’s career.
“They were all calling Dan May to see what kind of player Brett was,” Brian recalled. “Dan told me what he responded. He said, “Listen, Brett is a raw talent; he can go as far as he wants to take himself.” I’ll be honest with you, he had a lot to do with Brett really getting his college commitment.”
“And he’s the one who really lit the fire for Bretty,” Brian said, revealing the sweet nickname for his son.
When Brett had the opportunity to return closer to home after his NHL contract expired with the Carolina Hurricanes, Brett chose to come to New Jersey. It was an easy choice, Brian remembers, particularly because of how close the Pesce family is.
“When the Devils made the offer and he says, “Pop, I’m taking it.”, Brian remembers of that day. “He says, “Dad, I wanna play for the Devils.”
It meant that Brian and Alyssa could go to triple the amount of games they could when he was in Carolina. Suddenly, those long car rides up and down the highways in New Jersey as a kid with Brett, became just Brian and Alyssa, a shorter drive, this time to watch their son play in the NHL, in the state that helped set the foundation.
“I’ll tell you, we’re a very, very tight knit family. I thank God for the family bonding that we’ve always had with the Pesce household,” Brian said.
In many ways, New Jersey became a key part of Pesce’s hockey foundation. The move to the Ice House Avalanche gave him the environment and coaching that helped unlock his potential, pushing him to see the game differently and compete at a higher level. Years later, returning to play for the New Jersey Devils carries a certain full-circle significance. The same state that helped shape him as a young defenseman is now the place where he continues his NHL career: A reminder of just how important those early development years in New Jersey truly were.
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