ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, but it comes with the territory when playing hockey.
We’re talking about missing teeth and 12-year-old Cayden Daniel Brotten has experienced a toothless hockey “glory story” firsthand.
Brotten is a defenseman for the South Anchorage 12U Drillers recreation team.
“About four years ago I started playing at the outdoor rinks,” Brotten said while discussing his love for hockey.
“I had got a pair of skates given to me by one of my older cousins and my mom got me a hockey stick and I went out to an outdoor rink, the Lake Otis rink and the stick was too short for me and some guys out there ended up giving me a stick that fit me and some gloves.
“And that night I just fell in love with the sport.”
It’s that love of sport and his teammates that propelled Brotten to play in the Arizona Cactus Cup in Chandler, Arizona, over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, despite having a major issue with his teeth.
“I was at a top golf with my team, we all went there on Friday night,” he explained. “I was sitting on the wrong side of the red line, right behind my teammate, and on the back swing it caught me right up in my mouth.”
“I got three chipped teeth. They’re all shattered. We couldn’t find any pieces. I was still spitting some out.”
“He got four of his teeth broken from a backswing on a club and he was pretty shaken up and I went up to him and I just told him, ‘Hey, man, toughness is a choice,’” Drillers assistant coach Matthew Schiavi said. “And you can either be tough or you can be weak.
“It was a traumatizing thing for him, but I was like, this is what’s going to define you for the rest of your life.”
Brotten’s coach said the player was taken to an emergency dental clinic, but he didn’t want to receive a shot for anesthesia to get his teeth fixed.
“The next day we had a hockey game in the morning and we were at the rink,” Schiavi said. “He wanted to play hockey and I called his mom about 30 minutes before the game and she was on the fence about it a little bit, but she let us make a decision.”
With his father supporting him as well, Brotten put in a mouth guard and suited up.
“I felt that I could play, didn’t feel any pain,” Brotten said. “It’s a tough sport. You got to be tough to play it.
“You can’t just sit there and cry on the bench when your team’s out there playing in big games.”
Play he did, helping propel the team to a 6-4 win on Saturday morning.
“It was funny because he forgot his sticks back at the hotel,” Schiavi said. “We just happened to be able to buy him a stick at the rink there.
“[We] put him on the ice and he ended up scoring two goals.”
Head coach Dave Mills added, “I thought it was pretty motivational for the kids.”
“How traumatizing it was at the Top Golf and then for him to show up and strap ‘em on and get out there for his teammates, and I think it really powered us through that game in particular, especially playing on the ice,” Mills said.
The Drillers would eventually lose in the semifinals to the team that would go on to win the tournament.
“There’s some really tough competition there,” Brotten said. “We went two and two in our games.
“I played three games without teeth.”
He said he was happy to inspire his team, but his team and coaches are an inspiration to him.
“I couldn’t have done it without all my coaches and teammates for all believing in me and just [helping] me through the process,” he said. “It’s a great, great hockey family.”
Brotten inspired his team to never give up and Coach Mills said it was a very special trip.
“I think all the kids really enjoyed it,” Mills said. “Hockey teams don’t go without any drama.”
“There’s always a little bit of drama with kids and parents and coaches, but at the end of the day, we all came together and I think they had a great lifelong experience.”
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