Lightning forward J.T. Brown would crush you at ‘Call of Duty’

In hockey, it’s a compliment to be considered a gamer. With his energy and gritty style, Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown has earned that label. He’s every bit the gamer off the ice, too, and his passion for the Call of Duty series knows no bounds.

We caught up with Brown for a breakdown of various elements and turning points in the series, as well as how he balances hockey, his Xbox exploits and life as a married man.

So just for a frame of reference, how long have you been playing Call of Duty?

Brown: I don’t even know how long I’ve been playing. I’d say I picked it up heavily the most when I went away for Juniors. I still was playing Xbox and the like in high school, of course, but Call of Duty probably came around my first year of Juniors.

So have you been playing video games for a long time then, or did you start at Call of Duty?

Brown: No, I mean I played Halo before that and a real smorgasbord of games, but I’d say I got serious into playing when I left for Juniors because I had so much time to play.

Yeah, spare time and no parents, right?

Brown: Exactly!

Well in that case, what’s your favorite game in the Call of Duty Series?

Brown: Well it’s a combination, but if I had to pick just one, I think I’d have to go with World at War. For me, that was the most pure of the game. As far as the killstreaks, it was just 3-5-7. You didn’t have to worry about nukes and everything. And especially in that game I liked to play search and destroy so I didn’t have to deal with the tank.

Yeah, that would change things.

Brown: Yeah, everyone hated the tank and it’s a big part of why people disliked that game, but when you played search and didn’t have to worry about that as much, the killstreaks were such that it really didn’t take over the game like it kind of has as of late. I’ve also got to go with Modern Warfare 2 because of the levels. They had some fun ones in that game.

So what do you like playing as? Are you a sniper, assault, or just whatever you feel like that day?

Brown: I’d say I’m more run and gun. I kind of like to keep sprinting and running around, especially if I’m playing deathmatch. Obviously, when you play search, you have different strategies. I play with a group of guys the whole time, so someone will be sniping, someone will be short range, so it just depends on the map. Usually there’s a strategy, and I just like to run around more so than sit back.

Do you have anyone in the locker room you play with, or are you by yourself in there?

Brown: Nah, from the locker room I play some with (Tyler) Johnson, (Nikita) Kucherov plays a little bit, and also Vladdy (Vladislav Namestnikov) will play as well.

So the Russians are all in on it?

Brown: Yeah, those are my Call of Duty guys. We play some other games, too. (Cedric) Paquette now and then will jump on Call of Duty. For the most part it’s one of those three, or I’m playing with my buddies from back home in Minnesota.

So do you play on the road at all, or is this strictly at home for you?

Brown: No, I have got an Xbox made for me from edsjunk.net; he makes an Xbox that’s a laptop. They just made an Xbox slim so it’s a lot smaller and thinner — less noise and the like. Basically they take the Xbox, break it down to the components and rebuild it with the TV connected right with it. Just have one thing connected so I can bring it with me everywhere on the road.

At that point, you could play it on the plane.

Brown: Yup. So on the plane we do more of NHL. When we are on the plane, it’s easier to play two-player against whoever I’m sitting with — usually against Drouin, because I like the online aspects of Call of Duty rather than running through the campaign.

Yeah, the online definitely holds you longer there.

Brown: Exactly. The plane doesn’t have fast enough internet to do the Xbox Live streaming, so I just try to stick with my role-playing games like Assassin’s Creed or NHL with Drouin.

Not a bad set-up then.

Brown: Yeah, it’s really cool. I’ve had a few different systems going back and forth, but this one having it all in one makes it streamlined — plus it looks pretty good.

I’d imagine you could carry that through the plane and no one knows you’re carrying an Xbox.

Brown: Exactly.

So what do you think about the new Call of Duty? Are you excited for it, or is it looking like more of the same?

Brown: I’m excited for it. I think they always build your interest right away. There’s always a learning curve when you get into the new game and learn the new strategies, maps and everything else. And you know, after playing a game for an entire year, you are excited for the next one.

Yeah you’re ready to move on and see something new.

Brown: I’m also excited to see some of the new maps they are going to be bringing back as well.

Yeah, they are doing the Call of Duty 4 remake as well. How are you feeling about that?

Brown: Ah, I’m excited. Those are some of the best games for me. I like the earlier ones more so than the later ones. So just to be able to relive some of those maps will just bring you back.

Yeah, but how about those old killstreaks? You excited to see the old helicopter return?

Brown: Yeah, the killstreaks are always fun and exciting, but that’s another reason why I like to play search, to get rid of them as much as you can. But at the same time, when you run around in deathmatch, it’s always fun to get as high a score as you can and mess around with the higher-level killstreaks, too.

You can’t beat just messing around with those killstreaks sometimes. … I know you’re married, so I’ve got to ask, how does your wife handle your gaming pastime?

Brown: Well… she, at first, really didn’t know. When we first started dating and the like, I didn’t play as much because I think it was Black Ops 2, and I just wasn’t as big a fan of that one as much as I would normally play. So when I first started playing my normal hours again after that one, she didn’t know what she really got into.

I can imagine that would have been quite the shock at first.

Brown: Now that we are married, I usually try to wait until she goes to bed or it’s game day, because when it’s game day, I get to play as much as I want to. Got to do what you’ve got to do to get ready! I try to take as much advantage of game day as I can.

I like that. So that’s your free play day then?

Brown: Yeah. The other days I try to be respectful and do everything else, so I’m not just sitting at home playing Xbox all day.

Yeah, there definitely is a balance, isn’t there?

Brown: Before it used to be I would play eight hours a day, but I kind of had to cut down on it some.

I can imagine she needs some of that eight hours for sure.

Brown: Eight hours wouldn’t work out anymore! [laughing]

Do you try to stay anonymous when you play online, or do you like talking about and sharing your account with the fans as well?

Brown: I have been found online, and I have a couple gamer tags as well. I have one’s I use when I play against the fans on NHL and the like, but for the most part I try to stay anonymous with my main Xbox tag.

So just try to stay with with your main group of friends and keep it all together there?

Brown: More times than not I just try to stay with my group of guys and go with a full party so it doesn’t have anything to do with the Tampa Bay Lightning or the like, so it would be kind of hard to figure out who it is.

That’s not too bad then. Keep you with your group but you never know who you’re playing.

Brown: Yeah, that’s always fun. There’s been times way back in the past in college and the like where I had my gamer tag out there on Twitter, and I had people add me from there, but for the most part I try to keep it with my core group and other guys on the team.

Not a bad way of handling that then.

Brown: So do you play a lot then as well?

Yeah, I had been playing a lot but kinda dropped off around I think it was Advanced Warfare.

Brown: Yeah, so what do you think about the exo-jumping?

That’s where it kinda lost me. It became too much like Titanfall. No matter where you were at it felt like someone was always behind you with a knife in your back.

Brown: Yeah, between the jumping in Halo and everything else, I feel like it’s just too much. I like when your boots are on the ground. I mean, they are saying it’s Advanced Warfare and trying to deal with the futuristic part of it, but for the most part my favorite games were going up to Modern Warfare 3.

Yeah, that was the last one that I really put the most time into. It just felt the most grounded.

Brown: But at the same time, I do feel like they leveled the playing field a little bit, but it definitely keeps it changing. The game has to keep changing in some way.

If they always keep it the same, then it would get dull after a while no matter how much fun it is, so it’s good that they keep trying new stuff.

Brown: And I think that’s why it’s so exciting when they come back and play different maps that have already been in the game and get them revamped because, for the older players, those are the games they grew up playing and those the games they like the most, and that’s what I like playing the most and seeing if the old strategies you used still work with the same group of guys. It’s always a lot of fun.

I’d imagine when the Call of Duty 4 remake hits your group will be tearing it up in that one, trying to find if those old choke points still work. Like wasn’t it in the airport level in CoD 4 that had the big choke point in it?

Brown: That’s always the fun in every game. But you’re talking about Terminal, that was from Modern Warfare 2, which had the big choke point in it. That one and Highrise with the bomb trapping. You could tick a lot of people off if you knew what you were doing!

Lots of people quitting games quickly there?

Brown: Exactly. I’m excited about the new technology, too. They now make those controllers with the buttons on the back. I’ve been messing around with those this last year or so, and it’s amazing. Now I just hope that one day we can go on to play in a big tournament or do something fun like that. Now obviously those guys, I watch all their YouTube videos, and they are pretty darn good, but maybe if I dedicated my hockey time towards video games I’d be there. [laughing]

Well, I think you made a pretty good choice in the end there.

Brown: Haha, yeah, I guess I’ll just keep it a pastime for now.

Follow J.T. Brown on Twitter at @JTBrown23.