A baseball and hockey star at Brookline High, Dave O’Brien earned a spot on the junior varsity hockey team at Northeastern University as a freshman non-scholarship player.

Three seasons later, as a senior captain skating the right wing, he helped spark the Huskies to the 1988 Beanpot and Hockey East championships, scored a career-high 47 points and was recipient of the New England Hockey Writers Most Improved Player Award.

“I played on some very good teams in high school and college and along the way I realized that it didn’t make a difference if you were an all-star or a walk-on as long as you gave your best effort and were a team player,’’ said the 49-year-old O’Brien, an attorney with the Boston firm of Peabody & Arnold.

His 65 goals and 141 points rank 12th and 17th, respectively, on the Huskies’ career scoring list and he is an inductee to the Brookline High, NU and Beanpot Tournament Halls of Fame.

In high school, O’Brien was a Suburban League baseball and hockey all-star, captaining both teams. A lefthanded pitcher, he threw a no-hitter against Madison Park High his senior year.

On the ice, O’Brien played at Boston Garden his sophomore year when Brookline advanced to the Eastern Mass. quarterfinals. He was second in scoring his junior and senior years in the Suburban League.

His father, John, a retired Brookline firefighter, played football and baseball at St. Mary’s High of Brookline; his brother, Sean, was a goalie on the BHS hockey team and his six sisters played varsity sports at the high school.

At Northeastern, he was called up to the varsity for a road trip because a senior teammate was taking the State Police exam. He never looked back, earning his scholarship at the end of his freshman season.

O’Brien played in the Beanpot that season when NU won the title and his senior Beanpot outing was spectacular: Three goals and an assist in wins over BC and BU.

“The Beanpot, at the Garden and especially for a local kid, is a pretty exciting time of your life,’’ said O’Brien, who remained lifelong friends with Fernie Flaman, the late Huskies head coach.

“I respected the way Fernie rewarded guys who came to play every day,’’ said O’Brien, who resides in Westwood with his wife, Heidi and their children, Ben, 12, Max, 10 and Sebastian, 6.

“He was a great motivator, direct, honest and a gentleman and he also lived in Westwood so I visited with him often.’’

O’Brien played three seasons in the St. Louis Blues system and subsequently tried out with the Bruins in 1991.

“The night before training camp I had an emergency appendectomy and although I came back briefly, I was released,’’ recalled O’Brien, who graduated cum laude from the New England School of Law in 1997.

He is a member of the Friends of Northeastern Hockey and coaches his sons in the Westwood Youth Hockey program.

“At their age it’s about fun and learning the game and that’s why I love coaching them,’’ said O’Brien. “The smile on their faces is my reward.’’

Marvin Pave can be reached at marvin.pave@rcn.com