Jim Brown (Ice Hockey)
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Jim Brown was chosen 92nd overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. While most kids growing up in sunny Arizona dream of playing football or baseball, Brown took a liking to ice hockey, and he was good at it.
At 19, Brown enrolled at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana where he played for three years. In his rookie season, he dressed for 36 games, scoring five goals and 18 points. His point production dropped in half the following year while playing nine fewer games. During his third and final year with the Fighting Irish in 1981-82, Brown scored eight times and had 27 points in 39 games.
Brown realized the odds of his making it to the NHL were remote, but he wanted to give professional hockey a try. Although he was huge in physical stature, it was not in his nature to play the role of an enforcer, which seemed to be the only avenue on to the big club. He joined the AHL's New Haven Nighthawks in 1982-83, where he played 75 games, scoring three goals and 15 points. He also showed a willingness to mix it up when he had to, picking up 120 minutes in penalties. Brown got his chance at the NHL when the Kings called him up for three games that season and he managed to collect an assist. He returned to New Haven for the 1983-84 season, before retiring at the age of 24.
