Donald Brashear

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Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
Height
Weight		 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
240 lb (109 kg/17 st 2 lb)
NHL Team
F. teams		 Washington Capitals
Montreal Canadiens
Vancouver Canucks
Philadelphia Flyers
Nationality Flag of the United States United States &
Flag of Canada Canada
Born January 7, 1972 (1972-01-07) (age 36),
Bedford, IN, US
Pro career 1992 – present

Donald Brashear (born January 7, 1972 in Bedford, Indiana, U.S.) is an American-Canadian professional ice hockey forward who currently plays for the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals. He also played for the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia Flyers.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Brashear started his NHL career when the Montreal Canadiens signed him as a free agent in 1992. He has played for the Montreal Canadiens, the Vancouver Canucks, and the Philadelphia Flyers, primarily being known as one of the NHL's top enforcers throughout his career. Brashear also ranks high in penalty minutes. He has trained with boxing legend Joe Frazier as well as James "Hoss" Skelton.

In 1996, Brashear was sent to Vancouver shortly after he had a heated verbal exchange with then-Canadiens head coach Mario Tremblay during a team practice in Denver. The full incident was filmed by the RDS cameraman Paul Buisson.

During the February 21, 2000 Vancouver-Boston game, when Brashear played for Vancouver, Marty McSorley struck Brashear in the side of his head with his stick. Brashear fell to the ice, his head bounced, and his unsecured helmet flew off. Brashear suffered from a grade 3 concussion and memory lapses. He returned to play after several weeks and has fully recovered.

Brashear testified he has no memory of what happened. Marty McSorley was found guilty of assault with a weapon but wasn't sent to jail. He had to complete 18 months of probation, in which he could not play against Brashear. McSorley claims that he tried to hit Brashear in the shoulder to start a fight with him and didn't mean to hit his head.

Brashear returned the next season and was traded to Philadelphia on December 17, 2001 for Jan Hlaváč. In 2002-03, he was awarded the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial, an annual trophy given to the Flyers most improved player. He played a role in starting a brawl in a game between the Flyers and Ottawa Senators on March 4, 2004 which in the end was the most penalized game in history, with Brashear getting the most penalty minutes.

Since the lockout came to an end, Brashear has had trouble adjusting to the new, more wide-open game. After a game in which he went after Darius Kasparitis who had taken a run at Peter Forsberg earlier in the game, he said he did not like the "new" NHL stating that you can't do anything anymore. Following the 2005-06 season, the Flyers indicated that they would not re-sign him as they preferred to go with younger players.[1] Brashear was signed by the Washington Capitals on July 14, 2006 to a one-year contract. The Washington Capitals signed Brashear to a one-year, $1.1 million contract extension on February 12, 2007.[2] During the 2007-08 NHL season, Brashear has served as one of the Capitals' alternate captains. On January 24th, 2008, the Capitals once again re-signed Brashear to a one-year extension, amount currently unknown.[3]

Brashear, an accomplished concert pianist, is a member of the NHL Diversity Task Force. Brashear's uncle, Carl Brashear, inspired the movie Men of Honor, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1988-89 Ste-Foy QAAA 10 1 2 3 10 - - - - -
1989-90 Longueuil College-Francais QMJHL 64 12 14 26 169 7 0 0 0 11
1990-91 Longueuil College-Francais QMJHL 68 12 26 38 195 8 0 3 3 33
1991-92 Verdun Collège-Français QMJHL 65 18 24 42 283 18 4 2 6 98
1992-93 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 76 11 3 14 261 5 0 0 0 8
1993-94 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 62 38 28 66 250 - - - - -
1993-94 Montreal Canadiens NHL 14 2 2 4 34 2 0 0 0 0
1994-95 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 29 10 9 19 182 17 7 5 12 77
1994-95 Montreal Canadiens NHL 20 1 1 2 63 - - - - -
1995-96 Montreal Canadiens NHL 67 0 4 4 223 6 0 0 0 2
1996-97 Montreal Canadiens NHL 10 0 0 0 38 - - - - -
1996-97 Vancouver Canucks NHL 59 8 5 13 207 - - - - -
1997-98 Vancouver Canucks NHL 77 9 9 18 372 - - - - -
1998-99 Vancouver Canucks NHL 82 8 10 18 209 - - - - -
1999-00 Vancouver Canucks NHL 60 11 2 13 136 - - - - -
2000-01 Vancouver Canucks NHL 79 9 19 28 145 4 0 0 0 0
2001-02 Vancouver Canucks NHL 31 5 8 13 136 - - - - -
2001-02 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 50 4 15 19 109 5 0 0 0 19
2002-03 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 8 17 25 161 13 1 2 3 21
2003-04 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 64 6 7 13 212 18 1 3 4 61
2004-05 Quebec Radio X LNAH 47 18 32 50 260 14 7 9 16 46
2005-06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 76 4 5 9 166 1 0 0 0 0
2006-07 Washington Capitals NHL 77 4 9 13 156 - - - - -
2007-08 Washington Capitals NHL 80 5 3 8 119 7 1 1 2 0
NHL Totals 926 84 116 200 2440 56 3 6 9 103

[edit] References

  1. ^ Clarke Addresses Media on State of the Team. PhiladelphiaFlyers.com (2006). Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  2. ^ Extension positive reinforcement for enforcer Brashear. ESPN.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  3. ^ Capitals Re-Sign Left Wing Donald Brashear To One-Year Contract. NHL.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-24.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links