The Always-Improving Peterborough Pete Brennan Faulkner Gets Playoff Run To Finish OHL Career

Peterborough Petes forward Brennan Faulkner, fresh off a second consecutive Norm Bryan Award for most improved player, is set for his first and only playoff run with the team, starting Thursday.

Faulkner had 23 goals and 3 assists more than last season to earn his second Norm Bryan Award. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Faulkner was honoured at the Petes year-end banquet at the Venue on Tuesday night. Including his second Norm Bryan Award, he was presented a gift from the Petes as a graduating overage player. He was kept along with James Petrovski and Matthew Soto as the three eligible 20-year-old overage players an Ontario Hockey League team can roster.

“You put the work in when nobody's looking so when you get the recognition, it's something to be proud of,” explained Faulkner. “I'm doing the same thing this summer: I'm going to get bigger, stronger and try to build my confidence. I'm grateful for the opportunity that I've had here and the trust they put into me.”

The London native was drafted sixth overall in the 2022 U18 OHL Priority Selection by the Petes. In his first season with Peterborough in 2023-24, he registered six assists in 64 games. The following year, he had six goals and 17 assists in 65 games, earning him his first Norm Bryan Award. He was awarded the same honour on Tuesday night after skyrocketing his numbers to 29 goals and 20 assists in 68 games; he and Matthew Soto were the only Petes to suit up in all their regular-season games. Faulkner spent his entire OHL career with the Petes.

“When they tell you it goes by quick, you don't think of it as you do now,” he explained. “I'll definitely be back here to see the boys. That's definitely something I'll miss for sure: coming to the rink every day, seeing the guys, being with them, being around them and I'll definitely be back for sure.”

Last summer, Faulkner said he trained diligently throughout the off-season to make a bigger impact in his final year with the Petes.

“Every year, you're hoping to get bigger and stronger but also build your confidence,” he explained. “I'd build my strength and most importantly, my confidence. I think shooting the puck more was a big thing I needed to add to my game so this year, I worked on that and it helped me.”

After graduating from the Petes, Faulkner has committed to Robert Morris University to play for the Colonials in Pittsburgh, Penn. He plans to study in the Teaching in Higher Education program and wants to pursue a career in education if he cannot attain one in hockey.

“I've been around teaching my whole life,” said Faulkner. “My mom's a teacher, my neighbour's a teacher so that's what I'm going to pursue if hockey doesn't work out.”

After Peterborough’s OHL Championship season in 2022-23, the Petes failed to make the playoffs until this year. This season marks Faulkner’s first and only opportunity to play in the OHL postseason.

Regardless of the outcome, Faulkner says 100 per cent that Peterborough is his home away from home.

“It's a place you can call home. It's an organization that does a lot of things top-notch so I was very grateful to be selected by Peterborough and be able to play my whole career here,” he said. “I couldn't have asked for a better organization and people to be around for the past three years and I'm just happy I was able to call it home for the rest of my life.”

The Petes open their first-round series at home against the North Bay Battalion at the Peterborough Memorial Centre this Thursday at 7:05 p.m.

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