Brooks Orpik

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Position	Defenseman
Shoots	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 228 lb (104 kg)
NHL Team	Pittsburgh Penguins
Nationality	United States
Born	September 26, 1980, San Francisco, California
NHL Draft	18th overall, 2000 Pittsburgh Penguins
Pro Career	2002 – present

Brooks Orpik (b. September 26, 1980 in San Francisco, California) is an American ice-hockey defenseman. He graduated from Boston College in 2002; while at BC, his sqauds won the 2001 National Championship and 1998 and 2000 Hockey East titles. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins as the 18th overall pick of the 2000 NHL entry draft and has so far spent his professional career in the Penguins organization.^[1]

On 4 March 2006, Orpik roughly checked Erik Cole of the Carolina Hurricanes from behind and into the boards during the third period. Cole suffered a fractured C5 vertebra in his neck and was out for the rest of the season. Orpik was suspended for 3 games. When Mark Recchi was traded from Pittsburgh to Carolina just a few days later, Orpik asked Recchi for Cole's phone number in order to apologize. Cole declined.^[2]

Orpik was named after the head coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, Herb Brooks.

[edit] References

1. ^ [1] Legends of Hockey/HHOF. 2001-06.
2. ^ [2] Allen, Kevin. USA Today:Orpik's hit, broken neck still troubling to Cole. 5/21-22/2006.