Panthers’ assistant GM Peterson on being a role model and making hockey more accessible

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In November 2020, the Florida Panthers named Brett Peterson their assistant general manager. He is believed to be the first Black assistant GM in National Hockey League history.

Peterson, a Northborough, Mass., native, was a defenceman for Boston College and won the 2001 NCAA national championship. After going undrafted, he had a five-year professional hockey career in the AHL and ECHL.

He then became a player agent with Acme Sports and represented Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask. He eventually became the vice-president of hockey for Wasserman Media Group.

As part of Black History Month, TSN spoke with Peterson about his path to the Panthers’ front office and the sport's diversity efforts.

How did you get started in hockey? What was your introduction to the sport?

“I was introduced basically by necessity from my parents. I had a bunch of energy when I was a kid and my mother tutored hockey players. For part of her payment for tutoring hockey players, the college hockey coach at the time was nice enough to put me on the ice and teach me how to skate. That’s how I got thrown into the sport. We didn’t have a [hockey] background as a family, so I got thrown into it that way and fell in love with it from there.”

Who was that college coach?

“At the time, we were living in Albany, New York, and then we moved to Massachusetts, so I learned to skate at a college, RPI [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute], in Troy, New York. The coach at the time was a gentleman named Mike Adessa, who actually subsequently was a scout for a long time with the Flames.”

As you were going through your hockey journey, who were your role models? Who were the players or people you looked up to?

“I used to go to a lot of college