Hard work lets Prust back in

I’ll be back,’ the 18-year-old winger vowed to Knights GM Mark Hunter.

rBrandon Prust had seen enough Arnold Schwarz- enegger movies to have the line down pat.r

“I’ll be back,” he told London Knights general manager Mark Hunter when Hunter informed the 18-year-old winger he was being sent to junior B in September.

rTwo weeks later, Prust was back — and he’s stuck in the OHL.r

“They called me in after the last exhibition game and I was hoping it was to sign me,” Prust said yesterday at the John Labatt Centre. “Mark gave me the bad news. It was kind of disappointing. I wasn’t expecting it. I told him ‘By the end of the season, I’ll be on your second line.’ I don’t think I’m there yet. Third line, maybe.”r

Prust has two goals and four assists in his last eight games and that’s the kind of contribution the Knights need from all their lesser lights as they enter the final 14 games of the regular schedule.r

The fifth-place Knights, 24-24-4-2 (they haven’t cleared .500 since they were 4-3-1-1 Oct. 18), are in the thick of a battle with Owen Sound, Sault Ste. Marie, Guelph and Erie for the final four playoff spots in the Western Conference.r

It’s all about hard work, and that’s how Prust has made it all through his hockey career.r

The London native was cut from the AAA Junior Knights program his OHL draft season. He played AA and as a result, didn’t get much exposure and wasn’t drafted. “I kind of wrote off the OHL when I didn’t get drafted,” he said.r

So it was on to the junior B London Nationals last season, where Knights assistant coach Jacques Beaulieu had started the recruiting process the previous year when he was coaching the Nats.r

Prust was invited to the 2001 Knights’ camp.r

“He had a good camp but just physically wasn’t ready,” Beaulieu recalled. “We liked his tenacity and you could tell he really had a passion for this game. (Assistant GM) Jim McKellar and I followed him last year and he was invited to camp again this year.”r

Beaulieu remembers that day in Hunter’s office.r

“His last words when he left the office were ‘I will be in your lineup by the end of the year.’ That’s what kind of kid he is. That really sums it up.”r

Prust was called up from the Nats when over-age forward Mike Stathopoulos went out with a shoulder injury. Most of the time he has been on an all-London line with Kyle Piwowarczyk and Matt Weir (they also signed as free agents), but he also has seen some time on the top line with Stathopoulos and Ryan Hare.r

Prust is 19th among 138 league rookies with eight goals and 13 assists.r

“We didn’t expect that,” Beaulieu said. “But it’s nice to see a young man like this keep progressing and not quit.r

“He’s a tough kid and doesn’t back down, but the points are something we need from everybody, that’s for sure. We need those third and fourth lines to step up and give us a goal here and there — and give us that win.”r

Beaulieu said Prust, Piwowarczyk and Weir are an inspiration for local boys. “Just don’t give up on the game.”r

Prust is an OAC student at Regina Mundi and wants to enrol in the police foundation course at Fanshawe, then branch off into firefighting.r

His coach on the AA Forest City Southeast Bruins, Tim Askin, is a city firefighter.r

Prust said he’ll do whatever the teams needs — chipping in a point here and there, making a big hit or dropping the gloves.r

“Going through the back door has been my route. It never crossed my mind to give up,” he said.r

“It was always my dream to play for the Knights, ever since my dad and his buddies took me to games at the Ice House when I was four and I watched guys like Trevor Dam and Louie DeBrusk and Jason Allison.”r

KNIGHTWATCHr

Tonight: The London Knights and Belleville Bulls play at the John Labatt Centre at 7:30 p.m.r

None-conference matchup: With both teams in playoff battles, Bulls coach Jim Hulton said there’s no need for either coaching staff to worry whether the players know the importance of this game. “Sometimes early in the year there’s a fear, but right now every game is so important for playoff positions and slotting. We’re in a dogfight with everybody but Ottawa (the 67’s are 17 points ahead of second-place St. Michael’s in the Eastern Conference).” The Knights are in a tight race in the Western Conference.r

Correction: When goalie Gerald Coleman blanked the Sudbury Wolves in October, it was the Knights’ first shutout in a year and a half. Aaron Molnar shut out Plymouth 2-0 on March 2, 2001. Molnar is now at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B., and the Tommies are tied for first in the Atlantic Conference.