Andrew Brunette knows Joel Quenneville well.
Word on the street is after the Wild beat the Dallas Stars in last season's finale -- a loss that sent the Blackhawks to the playoffs -- a Bud Light truck pulled up to Brunette's home with a thank-you gift from the Chicago Blackhawks coach.
"That's an urban legend," Brunette, reached in London, said Friday with that thunderous "Bruno" laugh.
Nevertheless, Brunette's familiarity with "Coach Q" from their days in Colorado made signing with the talent-heavy Blackhawks -- one year removed from a Stanley Cup -- that much more a perfect fit for Brunette.
Four teams called -- none of which was the Wild -- as Brunette's up-close-and-personal chance to watch Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon semifinals was destroyed.
"I missed the last of the first set and all of the second!" Brunette screamed.
The Blackhawks dialed Brunette's cell phone the second free agency began Friday, and as happy as the 37-year-old left winger was to land a one-year, $2 million deal with the Hawks, he was sad to see his second stint with the Wild end.
Brunette, who went to the 2003 Western Conference finals with the Wild, returned to Minnesota three years ago with lofty aspirations. He was excited to play again with Marian Gaborik and be coached again by Jacques Lemaire. Instead, both were gone a year later, and Brunette never got to play another playoff game in a Wild sweater.
