Donald Brashear
Donald Brashear is an American-born Canadian former professional hockey player. He played for five organizations in the National Hockey League over a 16-year career, in which he played the role of an enforcer.
He was among the NHL leaders in penalty minutes for six seasons, while finishing his career 15th all-time in penalty minutes. He remains the Vancouver Canucks' all-time single-season leader in penalty minutes, which he set in the 1997–98 season.
He was involved in one of the most publicized incidents of on-ice violence in NHL history during the 1999–2000 season, when he was slashed in the head by Marty McSorley.
Early life
Brashear was born in Bedford, Indiana, but moved to Val-Bélair, Quebec, his mother's family village, as a child.Brashear is the youngest of three children born to an American father, Johnny Brashear, and Nicole Gauthier, who was mainly of French-Canadian descent, in Bedford, Indiana. His father was an alcoholic who relentlessly abused his family, including slashing Donald with belts and electrical cords. On one occasion, when Donald was only six months old, he picked him up and hurled him through a window. Nicole, afraid that Johnny might kill her, left the family and returned to Canada. Later, she came back to take the children but left Donald to live with his father for another four years, until Donald's paternal grandmother sent him to Canada. Nicole later stated that she left him behind because her future husband was prejudiced and wanted to avoid having another mixed-race child in the house.
Brashear eventually moved in with his mother and stepfather in Loretteville, Quebec. Because of his stepfather's racist attitude, he suffered further abuse in his new surroundings; for instance, he was forced to sleep with a garbage bag tied around his waist to keep him from wetting the bed and was verbally berated for not being able to tie his shoes. His mother finally decided to give him up to foster care, due in part because of what she called "mental problems" from the abuse he had suffered, and because he did not accept her as his mother. Brashear lived in two different foster homes that sent him away since the families believed he was a "little too much to handle."
At the age of eight, Brashear moved to Val-Bélair, Quebec, and settled into a new foster home. Once there, he began playing hockey with his new siblings. To help pay for hockey, Brashear sold baked bread and garbage bags door-to-door, and later became a paper boy. He played in the 1984, 1985 and 1986 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with three separate minor ice hockey teams from Quebec City.
Professional career
Early career
Brashear was signed as a free agent by the Montreal Canadiens in 1992. He spent parts of three seasons with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Fredericton Canadiens, before becoming a regular with Montreal at the NHL level. During the 1993–94 AHL season, he registered professional career highs of 38 goals and 66 points, along with 250 Penalty Minutes in 62 games. His 38 goals tied him for the team lead and the 250 PIMs led Fredericton. Brashear made his NHL debut on November 15, 1993, against the Ottawa Senators. He registered an assist in the contest, his first career NHL point. Two days later, he scored his first NHL goal in a game against the Edmonton Oilers. After playing parts of four seasons with the Canadiens, his time in Montreal ended following a heated verbal exchange with head coach Mario Tremblay during a team practice on November 9, 1996. Four days later, Brashear was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Jassen Cullimore. Brashear finished the year with 13 points and 245 penalty minutes. Those penalty minutes were the seventh-highest in the NHL.The following season, 1997–98, Brashear led the NHL in penalty minutes and set a Canucks franchise record with 372 PIMs, while adding 18 points. During the season, he also received a four-game suspension for delivering a blind-side punch to Ian Laperrière. Brashear stated that he hit Laperrière in retaliation to Laperrière punching Brashear's teammate Gino Odjick from behind. The 1998–99 season marked the only time in his career which he played in all 82 games, again leading the Canucks in penalty minutes and finishing eighth in the NHL. In the 1999–2000 season, Brashear set a career-high in goals with 11, but the season was marred by one of the most published incidents of excessive violence in the modern era of hockey.
McSorley incident
During a February 21, 2000 Canucks home game against the Boston Bruins, Brashear was involved in a fight with Marty McSorley. Brashear handily won the fight and, on his way to the penalty box, taunted the Bruins' bench. Later in the game, Brashear collided with Bruins goaltender Byron Dafoe, who had to be taken off on a stretcher with a knee injury. For the rest of the game, McSorley was eager for a rematch with Brashear, who refused to fight again. With 4.6 seconds left in the game, a frustrated McSorley finally swung his stick toward Brashear's head from behind and struck him with a two-handed slash to the right temple. Brashear collapsed to the ice immediately, with his helmet falling off as the back of his head struck the ice. He suffered a seizure and the slash resulted in a grade-three concussion. Canucks goaltender Garth Snow then tried to fight McSorley, but a pile-up occurred, and Snow couldn't get at McSorley, who was ejected with 2.8 seconds left in the game. McSorley later received an indefinite suspension from the NHL and was charged with assault with a weapon as a result of his actions.The case went to trial in British Columbia, where Brashear testified that he had no memory of the incident. McSorley testified that he tried to hit Brashear in the shoulder to start a fight with him, but missed, resulting in the head shot. McSorley was found guilty but avoided a jail sentence. He was required to complete 18 months of probation, in which he was not allowed to play in a game against Brashear. Brashear returned to play before the end of the season. McSorley, who missed the remaining 23 games of the regular season, had his suspension officially set at one year following the conviction. The incident effectively ended McSorley's career, as he never played in another NHL game. Brashear was often asked later if he ever talked with McSorley about the incident, and always responded the same way: he and McSorley had no relationship prior to it, and had no plans to ever speak to each other about what had happened.
Mid-career
Brashear played in 79 games the following season, registering 19 assists and 28 points. After leading the Canucks in penalty minutes for the previous four seasons, Brashear was traded 31 games into the 2001–02 season to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers received Brashear and the Canucks' sixth-round draft pick in 2002 in exchange for Jan Hlaváč and the Flyers' third-round pick in the same draft. While splitting time between the two franchises, Brashear set a career-high in points while also amassing 199 PIMs. In 2002–03, he recorded eight goals, 25 points and 161 PIMs. Thanks in part to his strong work ethic, he was awarded the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy, an annual award given to the Flyers' most improved player. During the 2003–04 season, he was among the League leaders in PIMs, registering 212, ranking him fifth overall. His PIM total was aided by his role in the most penalized game in NHL history. On March 5, 2004, the Flyers were defeating the Ottawa Senators 5–2, when with 1:45 remaining in the game, Brashear fought Ottawa enforcer Rob Ray. The fight was believed to be in retaliation to Flyers forward Mark Recchi being slashed in the face by the Senators Martin Havlát. Following Brashear's fight, five separate brawls broke out. For his role in starting the fighting, Brashear was assessed 34 PIMs, more than any other Flyer. When asked later why he started the fighting, he responded by saying, "Why wouldn’t I? Did you see the last game?"Due to the cancellation of the 2004–05 NHL season by the NHL lockout, Brashear signed with the Quebec Radio X of the semi-pro Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey league. The deal was reportedly worth $300,000. He registered 18 goals and 50 points in 47 games, but was reluctant to fight and felt the league did little to protect him from players wanting to make a name for themselves against an established NHL enforcer. Brashear was suspended from the league following an incident where he continued punching a player in the face while he was lying on the ice.
Following the lockout, Brashear voiced his displeasure with the new way the League called games, stating that the NHL changed the rules to favor "superstars," and he felt that there was no longer a way to "get respect" on the ice. His statement came following a game in which he attempted to fight Darius Kasparaitis, who the Flyers believed delivered a "cheap shot" to Simon Gagné in an Olympic game earlier in the year. After Kasparaitis refused to fight Brashear at various points in the game, Brashear hit Kasparaitis with a gloved punch with 1:53 remaining in the game. Kasparaitis did not fight back and instead covered up to protect himself. Brashear was assessed 29 PIMs for the incident, including an instigator penalty. Brashear was given a one-game suspension due to new League rules for the 2005–06 season; any player given an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of regulation or overtime would receive an automatic one-game suspension. At the end of the year, he was again in the top ten in PIMs, accumulating 166, but his offensive production dropped to a mere nine points. The Flyers opted not to re-sign the enforcer.
The Washington Capitals then signed Brashear on July 14, 2006, to a one-year, $1 million contract. The signing was to provide Alexander Ovechkin with some on-ice protection. Capitals management felt that Brashear was skilled enough not to be a liability on the team while bringing an intimidating presence. During the 2006–07 season, the Capitals decided to extend Brashear's contract, signing him to a one-year, $1.1 million contract extension. He was suspended one game by the NHL during the regular season for punching New York Rangers defenceman Aaron Ward following a fight between Brashear and Brendan Shanahan. In the game, Shanahan felt Brashear was taking liberties with Rangers captain Jaromír Jágr, and subsequently challenged Brashear to a fight. Brashear won the fight and motioned as if he was dusting off his hands. Ward then approached him and had words with Brashear, who responded by punching him in the face, earning Brashear a game misconduct for intent to injure and eventually the suspension. At season's end, his point total increased from the previous season to 13 and his 156 PIMs ranked him in the top ten in the League for the sixth time in his career. In the 2007–08 season, Brashear played in 80 games for the Capitals, but his offensive production slipped down to eight points while registering only 119 PIMs. However, he served as one of the Capitals' alternate captains. On January 24, 2008, the Capitals once again re-signed Brashear, this time to a one-year, $1.2 million extension.
In the 2008–09 season, Brashear's point total dropped to four, his lowest total since 1995–96 while he was with the Montreal Canadiens. During the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, he earned a suspension for two separate on-ice incidents. On April 26, 2009, the Capitals faced the New York Rangers in Game 6 of their first-round series. In the pre-game warm-ups, Brashear shoved Rangers enforcer Colton Orr, then delivered a blind-side hit to Blair Betts mid-way through the game's first period. As a result of the hit, and a possible elbow, Betts suffered a broken orbital bone and was out indefinitely. Colin Campbell ruled that the hit was late on an unsuspecting player; he also believed it targeted the head, and as a result caused significant injury. For his actions, Brashear was given a six-game suspension by the League — one for the pre-game altercation and five for the hit on Betts.