‘Never give up’: How Brandon Bussi went from Chipotle employee to Stanley Cup champ

Brandon Bussi, a 27-year-old goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes, became the first American goalie to clinch the Stanley Cup with a shutout since Jonathan Quick in 2014, after being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers. Bussi, who worked at Chipotle during the pandemic, adopted a 'House Money' mindset and launched a hat sale benefiting autism charities in honor of his brother.

If you ate at the Chipotle location in North Andover, Massachusetts, during the summer of 2020, there’s a good chance you met a Stanley Cup champion. Not just any Stanley Cup champion, either. Brandon Bussi of the Carolina Hurricanes became the first American goaltender to win the Cup-clinching game since Jonathan Quick in 2014 — and he did it while recording a shutout. That’s not where Bussi thought he’d end up when he got that summer job during the pandemic. In fact, it’s not even where he thought he’d be when the 2025-26 NHL season began. The 27-year-old signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Panthers as a free agent last summer, worth the league-minimum salary of $775,000 at the NHL level. He’d spent the previous three seasons in the Boston Bruins’ system after signing there as an undrafted free agent, but he got stuck in a log jam of productive goalies and never got the chance to play in the NHL. The idea was that with enough hard work — and a bit of luck — he might be able to make his NHL debut this season. As training camp neared its conclusion, the Panthers notified him that he’d be sent down to the minors, so long as he cleared waivers — a mandatory part in the process of sending most players down. So, Bussi and his fiancée, Mary, packed up the car and headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, home of the the Panthers’ American Hockey League affiliate. While en route, they got a call telling them to change course and head to Raleigh. The Carolina Hurricanes had claimed him off waivers. “ We immediately parked the car at a gas station and tried to figure everything out,” Bussi recalled on a “ Spittin’ Chiclets” appearance https://open.spotify.com/episode/3HzavBcuOg4mRRsOgesG9r?si=ox5ekEO0TdSRT2Ad7yB2pw in December. “That was a pretty crazy, I’ll say, hour just kind of getting my bearings on how my life has changed.” But that was only the beginning. Playing with ‘House Money’ Bussi would make his first NHL appearance three games into the regular season, recording a 5-1 win on the road against the San Jose Sharks. Four days later, he beat the Los Angeles Kings, and the momentum rolled on from there. Before he knew it, he was the first goalie to ever begin his NHL career with a record of 11-1. It never really slowed down from there, either. He ended the regular season 31-6-2, and to this day has only had one spell of consecutive losses in the NHL. Along the way, Bussi adopted the saying “House Money.” No matter what he did with this golden opportunity, he couldn’t finish any further back than where he started. That led him to launch a hat sale https://buddyhockey.com/products/buddy-x-brandon-bussi in connection with Buddy Hockey with the phrase “House Money” displayed across the front. The first month of proceeds went to The Autism Society of North Carolina and Pucks for Autism in honor of Bussi’s brother, Dylan, who is on the autism spectrum. Bussi’s goalie masks also feature autism symbols in support of his brother. “At a point where the path wasn’t promised, where the odds were stacked and opportunities were scarce, Brandon chose to let go of pressure and play free. No expectations. No fear. Just belief, resilience and the willingness to embrace every moment for what it is,” states the product description of the hat. “... When you have nothing to lose, you unlock everything.” With the House Money saying in mind, it’s poetic that Bussi’s journey to the top concluded in Las Vegas. Powering through the playoffs Despite Bussi’s regular-season record, the Hurricanes’ goaltending was their biggest question mark going into the playoffs. Goalie stats were down league-wide this season, but it’s nevertheless concerning when none of your goaltenders have a save percentage above .900 on the year. They began the playoffs with veteran Frederik Andersen in net. He recorded a shutout in the first game, so they went back to him in Game 2. Another win. Same result in Games 3 and 4, as well as their entire second-round series. No sense switching goalies when one is on a tear. Andersen made it through the first three rounds with just one loss, but their Final opponent, the Vegas Golden Knights, proved to be more of a headache than any of the Hurricanes’ previous matchups. After allowing four goals in the second period of Game 3, Andersen got the hook, allowing Bussi to make his Stanley Cup Playoff debut. With Bussi behind them, the Hurricanes made the first four-goal comeback in Stanley Cup Final history, but ultimately lost in overtime. From there on out, the net belonged to Bussi — and he wouldn’t lose another game. As mentioned, he posted a 3-0 shutout on Sunday to bring the Stanley Cup back to Carolina, five days short of the 20-year anniversary of the team’s first championship. “Never give up. Always have fun. Keep your head down,” Bussi told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan in an on-ice interview https://x.com/espn/status/2066360018098688485?s=20 after winning the Cup. “All kind of the clichés, but it’s true, right? I didn’t let anybody tell me no. If there was some adversity, I took it head-on and tried to figure it out and get better from it.”