Andrew Brunette

Andrew D. Brunette, born August 24, 1973, is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He currently serves as head coach of the Nashville Predators in the NHL. During his playing career, which ran from 1996 to 2012, he suited up for over 1,100 games with the Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, and Chicago Blackhawks. Before taking the helm in Nashville, Brunette was interim head coach of the Florida Panthers, an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils, and also served as the Wild's assistant general manager.

Brunette grew up in Valley East, Ontario, near Sudbury, and played minor hockey for the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats. After a strong midget season in 1989–90, he was picked in the seventh round of the 1990 OHL Priority Selection by the Owen Sound Platers. There, he played alongside future NHLers Kirk Maltby, Scott Walker, Kevin Weekes, and Jamie Storr. Over three seasons (1990–1993), he put up 295 points in 195 games and won the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the league's top scorer in 1993. The Washington Capitals then selected him in the seventh round, 174th overall, of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

After being drafted, Brunette played for the Hampton Roads Admirals in the ECHL before moving to the AHL, where he suited up for the Providence Bruins and Portland Pirates that same season. He remained with the Pirates until 1998, but got his first NHL call-up during the 1995–96 season, playing 11 games for the Capitals. Over the next few years, he played 51 more games with Washington before being claimed by the Nashville Predators in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft. He scored the first goal in Predators franchise history.

After Nashville's inaugural 1998–99 season, Brunette moved to the expansion Atlanta Thrashers for two seasons, then joined the Minnesota Wild in 2001–02. On April 22, 2003, he scored the overtime winner in Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Colorado Avalanche—the final game of goaltender Patrick Roy's career. He stayed with the Wild until 2004, then signed with the Avalanche as a free agent after the 2004–05 lockout. On April 30, 2006, he netted the series-clinching goal against the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of the 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals.