Former Florida Panthers head coach Andrew Brunette was arrested in the early morning hours on Wednesday in South Florida.
The current New Jersey Devils associate coach was in Florida for the All-Star break and spent Tuesday night catching up with friends at a local sports bar. According to the Broward County Sheriff Department, Brunette got behind the wheel of his illegally parked golf cart and sped through a yield, before failing to stop at a stop sign.
Authorities reported Brunette to be incoherent, even offering his wife’s identification in place of his own during the traffic stop.
“He provided the registration and insurance for the golf cart, but handed over his wife’s driver’s license and stated it was because he wasn’t driving,” the arrest report stated.
Brunette was noted to be ‘unsteady’ on his feet, and attempted to leave the scene during issuing of the citation. He was eventually charged with one count of driving under the influence and two counts of disobeying stop/yield signage.
The 49-year-old was taken to the county jail within the Miami metro area and was released on a $500 bond Wednesday morning.
Following his 16-year NHL playing career, Brunette began coaching and earned himself the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year following the 2021-22 season with the Panthers, where his team won the Presidents’ Trophy with the best record across the league.
Despite his success as a first-year head coach, Florida moved on to former Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice in the offseason, to which Brunette joined arms with Lindy Ruff, opting to serve in his associate coaching role with the Devils.
New Jersey currently sits at 32-13-4, good for second place in the Metropolitan Division at the time of the All-Star break.
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