Harrison Brunicke’s ice hockey story doesn’t begin the way most do, or even on the same continent.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, there was no backyard rink, no puck placed in his hand at birth by hockey-mad relatives. When his family moved from South Africa to Calgary in 2009, hockey wasn’t part of the plan at all. It was just something new to try in a new country.
It didn’t take long to become his everything.
“Coming to Canada, we didn’t know much about snow, never mind playing hockey,” Harrison told The Athletic. “But going to school with guys who played the sport, I picked it up there.”
Having first played soccer and baseball upon his arrival in Canada, Harrison eventually, inevitably, stumbled into hockey after being given a pair of second-hand skates from someone at school.
Those early years on the ice felt natural for the South African native. Athletic and energetic, he usually picked things up quickly. “He was always going to be in sports,” his mom, Kim, said. “A busy, busy kid. Even now, it’s hard for him to sit still.”
Harrison’s parents, Dean and Kim Brunicke, freely admit they knew next to nothing about ice hockey or what a “big deal it was over here” when they arrived in Canada. “Nothing. Nothing! I didn’t even know what offside was,” Kim said, as quoted in Penguins media.
Dean, who had played field hockey for South Africa’s national under-21 team, thought there might even be some overlap between the sports. That illusion vanished as Harrison started his skating lessons. “Hockey, it’s awesome,” Dean said. “I got to know it through the process, and now it’s just one of the most amazing sports.”
Dean sees the same competitive streak in his son that drives so many South African athletes, noting that his competitive nature has stayed the same over the years, whether on the ice or at home at the ping-pong table.
By the time he was old enough to follow the NHL, one name dominated the game. “When we first came over, Sid [Crosby] was THE guy,” Dean recalled. “The first goal Harrison ever scored, he had his Sherwood Crosby stick, and he was in Pittsburgh colours. That’s my first memory of him scoring,” he shared.
“They’ve done so much for me,” Harrison said of his parents. “Moving from South Africa was a huge culture shift, a really tough decision. But they did it for us to have a good life in Calgary. That’s helped me so much to get where I am.”
Fast forward a decade, and the circle feels complete: Harrison Brunicke would become the first South African-born skater ever drafted into the NHL, by none other than the Pittsburgh Penguins themselves.
