'He can literally eat, breathe and sleep hockey': Family of Flames blueliner Hunter Brzustewicz has seen the work

Shortly after Hunter Brzustewicz was informed that he was getting called up by the Calgary Flames, he needed to make a call.

There was a Dads Trip to get organized, after all, and that meant his stepdad, Francis Timpano, had some last-minute planning to get done.

It wasn’t an experience Timpano was going to miss, but getting it all planned was easier said than done, especially because the call came last Sunday and the trip left from Calgary on Friday afternoon.

He needed to be back in Michigan by early — really early — Monday morning, too.

“I’m a crane operator and we’ve been planning this big job at a mine for the last three weeks,” Timpano explained. “I run the biggest crane we have in there, so I was like ‘How do I get back in time?’ because we normally roll at 4:30 in the morning. I can’t drive until it’s light out, so I’m going to just make it.”

There are some jobs you can work remotely, but operating a huge crane in a mine definitely isn’t one of them.

To make it work, Timpano’s going to grab a red-eye flight back to Michigan from Los Angeles on Sunday night/Monday morning after spending the weekend with Brzustewicz and the rest of the Flames’ substantial posse of players and their dads.

The highlight, undoubtedly, will be getting the chance to see Brzustewicz play for the Flames against the Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night. In a weird twist, that’s also where the 21-year-old made his Flames debut at the end of last season, meaning that for a brief time he will have played more NHL games in the Kings’ home rink than he has at the Saddledome.

After impressing with the Wranglers in the AHL, Brzustewicz earned a call-up this week and put in an encouraging first effort against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night, finishing with a +1 rating and getting 15:47 of ice time.

Back home, right in the heart of Red Wings country, there were a few new Flames fans cheering along.

“We’ve got a group chat with family friends and I texted them on Wednesday and said ‘Guys, I know we grew up as Red Wings fans, but tonight, Go Flames,’ “ Brzustewicz said. “They got a chuckle. Even (Brent) Seabrook on the ice at morning skate, he came up to me and said, ‘OK, who are you rooting for tonight?’

“After the game, he was like ‘Hey, saw you were a +1, good to see you were rooting for the Flames.’ “

There is, of course, nobody seriously questioning Brzustewicz’s commitment, either to the Flames or to improving his own game.

Timpano’s seen it first-hand as the young blueliner has gone from being a highly regarded defenceman in the OHL who was selected in the third round of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks to being flipped to the Flames as part of the trade package for Elias Lindholm. Then, he worked to find his feet last year with the Wranglers before earning a call-up at season’s end.

A strong start to 2025-26 in the AHL that saw Brzustewicz score four times and add eight assists in 23 games has earned him his latest opportunity.

What’s it all been like for his family?

“You want to sit back and let the coaching staff do their job, you just want to be there when you’re needed and all you can do is just kind of get after him and tell him to learn from his mistakes,” Timpano explained. “I’m big on attitude and effort. You play your game and puck don’t lie, the only thing you can control is your attitude and effort, so just keep going forward with that.

“He’s all work, all the time. He can literally eat, breathe and sleep hockey.”

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