Photo by Brian Babineau

Sound Beach, NY native; Brandon Bussi became the improbable Stanley Cup winning starting goaltender and here’s a look back at his journey from youth hockey to hoisting the Stanley Cup.

 

Brandon Bussi grew up in Sound Beach on Long Island, NY graduating from Miller Place High School in 2016. As an homage to his humble beginnings, Bussi brought the Stanley Cup to The Rinx in Hauppauge near his hometown just recently in August at the locale where it all began where he first suited up in his goalie pads at his childhood rink.

Bussi played hockey collegiately at Western Michigan University for three years at the D1 level. During his freshman year of NCAA with the Western Michigan Broncos in 2019-20, he played 34 games, went 18-12-4 with a 2.65 GAA (goals against average), and a .910 save percentage. He missed most of his sophomore season due to a lower body injury but went 2-1 with a 2.84 GAA in four games in 2020-21. During his junior campaign the Long Islander came back strong going 26-12-1, had a 2.55 GAA, a .912 save percentage, made 1,023 saves along with 4 shutouts in 2021-22.

Photo by Steve Lanava

During his final season of college, Bussi signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Boston Bruins on March 30, 2022 going undrafted and shortly after NCAA hockey he played for the Providence Bruins, the minor league affiliate of the Boston Bruins in the American Hockey League. In five games in his first professional season, Bussi went 3-2 with a 2.54. In 2022-23, the Sound Beach native played truncated time at the lower minor league level in the ECHL with the Maine Mariners earning 3 wins and a 2.50 GAA in four games. After being called up to Providence, the Western Michigan product tallied 32 games played, went a stellar 22-5-4, posted an impeccable GAA of 2.40, and turned aside 906 shots on goal, and registered one shutout.

Photo by Providence Bruins

In April 2023 as well as a couple times during the 2023-24 season, Bussi was brought up to the NHL with the Boston Bruins as the emergency backup. He was in uniform but never stepped on the ice with the Bruins.

In Bussi’s third pro season in 2023-24, the netminder played 41 games between the pipes, gave up 107 goals while preventing 1,125 pucks going into the mesh, sported a 23-10-5 record, a 2.67 and a .913 and made a shutout for Providence. In 2024-25 for the Boston Bruins junior circuit, the backstop played in 33 contests and garnered five shutouts. He had a record of 15-14-3, a 2.77 GAA, a .907 save percentage, and stopped 857 pucks from crossing the crease.

After four years in the Bruins organization, the twine-minder was signed by the Florida Panthers and spent 2025 training camp with the defending back-to-back champs. But on October 5, Bussi was cleared off waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes and made the opening night roster to back up Frederik Andersen. As the backup playing in 39 games he went 31-6-2 posting a 2.47 GAA and an .849 percentage facing 911 shots stopping 814 and cemented 2 shutouts. Some highlights from the regular season consisted of Bussi getting the start and winning it in overtime against the team he grew up cheering for; the New York Rangers to earn a 3-2 overtime victory on December 29, in Raleigh. While on February 5, he again dominated his childhood team at Madison Square Garden to shutout the Rangers 2-0 notching 18 saves at “The World’s Most Famous Arena”, and in the regular season finale in April near his hometown the Sound Beach product made 29 saves in a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.

Credit: Ethan Miller

After serving as the backup and seeing no ice team during the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, Frederik Andersen was removed from game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final after letting up 4 goals and Bussi was called upon. Even though the Hurricanes lost 5-4 in double overtime, Bussi concluded the game with 18 saves on 19 shots. Bussi got the nod for the next 3 games due to an injury to Andersen. Down 2 games to 1, the rookie made 18 saves on 21 shots in a 5-3 Carolina win in game 4, 23 saves on 25 shots in a 4-2 victory in game 5 to go up 3 games to 2, and shutout the Vegas Golden Knights with 22 saves in a 3-0 conquest in game 6, then hoisted the beautiful silver trophy sky high in pandemonium as he reached the nirvana of hockey.

Bussi will serve as the starting goalie for the Hurricanes for at least the next 3 seasons. Post his exuberant Stanley Cup Final performance the netminder was awarded a three-year $5.7 million contract.

Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images