As head coach of the St. Louis Bandits, former Blues defenseman Jeff Brown is now seeing the less glamorous, but highly gratifying side of hockey.

Brown, 42, was part of the wildly popular Blues teams of the 1990s that with Brett Hull, Curtis Joseph, Brendan Shanahan and Kelly Chase had as much character as they did talent when they stepped on the ice.

“Oh, it was great,” Brown said Thursday. “None of us knew that we were having the time of our lives. We had a bunch of young single guys and we had great teams. It’s too bad that nucleus couldn’t have been kept together . . . well, it could have been . . . it chose not to be kept together, which is a shame.”

Mike Keenan came to town in 1994 and began to put his own fingerprints on the Blues. In ’94, Keenan traded Brown to Vancouver for Craig Janney, and in ’95, he moved Joseph to Edmonton, Shanahan to Hartford and put Chase on waivers. Keenan was fired in ’96 but not before ripping apart a memorable era in Blues’ hockey.

Brown’s 13-year career in the NHL ended in 1998. He took a break from the sport, but then returned to St. Louis and began coaching his son Logan’s AAA hockey team in Chesterfield. Like other Blues’ alumni before him, Brown had a lot of success in youth coaching, turning the 1988’s into a national power.

Then came a phone call this summer from Chase, his ex-Blues teammate who co-owns the Bandits, a Junior A hockey team based in Chesterfield. The Bandits had won back-to-back national championships in the North American Hockey League and were looking for a new coach after the departure of Jon Cooper.

“Coaching suicide,” Brown said of his decision to take a job that came with high expectations and only two players returning from last season.

Brown, though, has enjoyed his first season, which has been more successful than he envisioned. The Bandits are 14-1-1 overall going into this weekend’s series with the Springfield Jr. Blues. The teams play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Hardee’s Ice Complex in Chesterfield, Saturday in Springfield, Ill., and then return home Sunday at 2 p.m.

“It’s been fun, a great organization, a great place for these kids to play,” Brown said. “I think this is probably the best age level (19-20). These guys, they want to learn, and they’ve still got a lot to learn. There’s a lot of teaching involved and that’s what I like to do . . . teach.”

Brown still owns the Blues’ records for most goals (25) and points (78) by a defenseman, marks he set during the 1992-93 season.

“Playing in the NHL, when he tells you something, you know it’s coming from the very best,” said Bandits forward Grant Gorczyca, who has 11 goals and nine assists in 16 games. “He told me because I’m a bigger guy (6-feet-1, 205 pounds), just make sure I use my body. He told me that at the beginning of the year and that really sticks with me.”

Tim Madsen, a Bandits’ assistant coach, said: “It’s definitely different when I’m talking to the players and when Jeff is talking to the players. I run the first half of practice almost every day. Then Jeff steps onto the ice and boom! . . . it’s different, a little crisper, a little more intense. You can feel it in the air when he’s on the ice.”

Asked about his influence as an ex-NHLer, Brown smiled and said: “You never know . . . these kids, they know it all.”

After a difficult start, the Bandits have won 14 consecutive games heading into their matchup with Springfield. The coaches and players credit goaltenders Keith Kinkaid and Erick Cinotti for the team’s success, but they are also proud of their overall chemistry.

“Losing the very first two games (one in OT) of the year, everyone just got together and said, ‘This is enough,’” Gorczyca said.

The Bandits believe the standard set the past two years has them focused on winning a third straight NAHL title.

“It’s a completely new group of guys, but we’re a good team and I think we’ve got a good shot to win it all again,” said forward Andrew Hamburg said.

“Every time we’ve touched the ice, whether it’s practice or a game, that’s what we want to get to,” Gorczyca said. “Hoisting that (NAHL trophy) over your head is unbelievable.”

Brown never hoisted the Stanley Cup as a player, but he hopes that he can win a championship as coach of the Bandits.

“We have a lot of work to do to make it three in a row, but the positive is we have a chance,” Brown said. “I feel like if everything comes together and the guys work hard, we’ve got a chance.”

- Jeremy Rutherford