Off the Ice: J.T. Brown talks family time and video games

This story appears in the October issue of Wild Magazine.
Burnsville native JT Brown is happy to be back playing hockey in his hometown. Off the ice, Brown can be found spending time with his wife, daughter and close friends or in his infamous game room streaming Fortnite Battle Royale sessions on Twitch.

Wild.com's Tricia Luna: Are there any special charities/community events that you are involved in? How long have you been involved with charity work?
JB: The main one for streaming was Hockey is for Everyone. I kind of wanted to stay in the hockey world and then just going with the work they do with the league, the transition seemed pretty seamless. For this specific charity, I've been streaming for 16 months, but there's different work throughout my years as a pro and even in college to give back. But this is definitely the first one I've embarked on, on my own.
TL: How long have you been into gaming, and what was your favorite old-school video game?
JB: I guess whenever the [Nintendo] 64 or Playstation [came out], I guess I had a Super Nintendo too. I don't know the exact year, but I had all the systems going back starting with the Super Nintendo, Playstation 1 and N64. I still have my N64; it's not actually the original one, but I have one with all the old-school games -- Mario Kart, GoldenEye, you name it. Every now and then, you gotta bring it out. If I was on N64, GoldenEye or Mario Kart, those are just classics. My favorite game on the original Playstation probably was Crash Bandicoot. That was up there; it was a great game. I would have to say if I had to pick all-time it would probably be those three. Those were some good games of my childhood.

TL: When the season is really underway, how do you spend your down time away from the rink to relax or get a mental break from the game?
JB: For the most part in the afternoon and evening I sit down and hang out with my wife Lexi and our daughter and the dogs and kind of just try to relax and hang out with them. And then obviously once I get some free time, I'll go back into my game room and try to play some video games. That's sort of like my relaxation even though it does get stressful and I do get upset when I'm not doing well. For some reason, it kind of lets me tune out whatever's going on with hockey or in your life. You get to get away for a few hours.
TL: Do you mind sharing with us what your video game setup is?
JB: I have three monitors and a TV above my three monitors so I can watch TV, so four monitors on my main setup. I have a custom PC tower that runs all of my games and streams. On the backside, I have a separate chair and setup for friends or people that want to come over so that we both can play at the same time and not necessarily be on mine. So I have that running off my laptop, as well. So I kind of have two different game setups.

TL: During the offseasons before signing with the Wild, how frequently did you visit Minnesota? What's your favorite part of Minnesota?
JB: Every summer, I obviously lived here when I grew up but then I left to Tampa and still would come back to Minnesota to train during the offseason. I spent the most time around the Uptown area around the lakes. Especially when I first moved out, I was renting there. There's a lot of stuff to do, especially in the summer with the lakes all around there connecting. Or I'd have to say Duluth, maybe not so much during the winter, but it's a great city and a lot of good memories there.
TL: How does it feel to be back in Minnesota? What are you most excited to share about your hometown with your family?
JB: I don't know if there's anything that we haven't done yet. My wife and daughter, she's doesn't really know if we go out to the zoo or anything yet, but I feel like we've done just about everything in the last five years that I need to do. I think more so just being able to spend more time with my family. Bringing Lily around them and getting her to see my dad, mom, brother and sister a little more often than say just the three months in the summer and to be able to be a phone call away.