FanHouse DonaldBrashear

There's no question Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has no fear of physical contact. He'll hit anyone, anywhere, anytime. When it comes to star players in this sport, few have the attitude Ovechkin does when it comes to hitting. That attitude, usually seen as an endearing part of Ovechkin's game, may have landed him in trouble Friday night in Pittsburgh.

A first period hit on Penguin defenseman Sergei Gonchar -- and the resulting two-minute minor penalty -- has drawn the ire of the Penguins.

There has been a lot of talk about hits to the head in the NHL playoffs so far. Washington's Donald Brashear got a controversial six-game suspension for his shot high on Ranger Blair Betts during Game 6 of their series.

Friday night, Anaheim and Detroit met to open their Western Conference semifinal series. During the first period, the intensity got cranked up big-time on a late and high hit by Anaheim's Mike Brown on Red Wing forward Jiri Hudler in Detroit's 3-2 win.

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Paul Maurice made his debut in his second stint with the Hurricanes on Thursday night, and, well, it wasn't exactly an impressive showing by Carolina, as the Penguins walked out of the building with a 5-2 win. Sidney Crosby registered four assists on the night, while Petr Sykora picked up a pair of power play goals to lead the Penguins.

Carolina goalie Michael Leighton struggled most of the night, giving up the five goals on only 22 shots. He struggled with puck control and wasn't exactly helped by his defense, as they were guilty of a few costly turnovers in the defensive zone. With the Hurricanes trailing 1-0 in the first, Josef Melichar (former Penguin) turned the puck over to Pascal Dupuis who ripped a shot behind Leighton giving the Penguins an early 2-0 lead.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Miroslav Satan also scored for the Penguins, while Tuomo Ruutu and Matt Cullen scored the only two goals of the night for Carolina. Both goals brought the Hurricanes to within two goals on the scoreboard, only to have the Penguins quickly strike back, squashing any momentum Carolina may have built.

The Hurricanes have now lost four of their past five games.

Over at Hockeyfights.com, David Singer is touting this bout as a candidate for Fight of the Year. It's a throwdown between two heavyweights, Donald Brashear and Jody Shelley, that took place on Saturday night in San Jose. Though the voters have given this bout decisively to Brashear, the Sharks still went on to win the game, 7-2.

At the end of last night's playoff game between Washington and Philadelphia, it was easy for one to get lost in the excitement. After a five-year absence from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the locals were getting their playoff sea legs back with a vengeance, raising the decibel level inside Verizon Center to a place it hadn't been since the magical ride to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998.

And as the locals screamed in response to a third period comeback keyed by young stars Mike Green and Alex Ovechkin, you might be forgiven for overlooking the workmanlike performance of Matt Bradley. But if you did, it would be a mistake.

If you take a look at his numbers during the regular season, there doesn't seem a lot to be impressed with -- just seven goals and 11 assists. But hockey is a game where numbers can deceive almost as often as they clarify, and such is the case with Bradley, a player whose speed, energy and willingness to attack on the forecheck have proven to be invaluable.

Bradley's willingness to sacrifice for his teammates doesn't end there. Interestingly enough, on a team where Donald Brashear's fists get all of the headlines, Bradley wound up dropping his gloves almost as often this season, ringing up 10 fighting majors to Brashear's 12. The one incident that sent my respect level for Bradley through the roof came on March 8, when the Caps and Bruins played a return engagement after Washington had leveled the Bruins at home, 10-2, only a few days before.

Wanting to set the tone early, Boston rookie Milan Lucic, all 6'4" and 220 pounds, decided to take his rage out on Bradley, only 6'2" and 200 pounds. Though hockey's unwritten code would have demanded that a heavyweight like Lucic fight Brashear and not Bradley, the Washington winger hung in there and never turtled.

There's an ugly situation brewing in the ECHL, in the aftermath of Victoria Salmon Kings winger Robin Gomez sending Las Vegas Wranglers forward Chris Ferraro to the ice with a surprise punch during a March 1 fight. (The video above is rather unclear, but you can hear the crowd gasp when the punch, and Ferraro, landed.) Gomez has been suspended by the ECHL; Ferraro, who called the incident "the most cowardly thing" had seen in a career that spans back to 1992, needed stitches and filed a formal complaint with police.

The Province reports that the wheels of justice are now spinning.

On Saturday, Carolina Hurricanes enforcer Wade Brookbank attempted to avenge teammate Trevor Letowski, who was driven into the boards by Capitals winger Donald Brashear. Brookbank took on one of the most ferocious fighters in recent NHL history, and Brashear won the fight with a flurry of blows to the back of the head.

On Sunday, the Capitals were facing the New Jersey Devils when whom should Brashear come picking on for a fight, just seven minutes into the game? Wade's little brother Sheldon Brookbank, a defenseman with seven major penalties to his credit this season. From the Star-Ledger:

"He kind of came at me," Brookbank said. "I figured, 'I'm not going to back down to him.' But he's a pretty powerful guy."

Brookbank snuck in a few punches and avoided Brashear's biggest swings by leaning away. "I landed a few with a little flurry. Nothing crazy," Brookbank said. "He got me with a couple in the ear. If he hits me flush, it's going to do some damage ... Believe it or not, I fought a lot of tough guys down in the minors early in my career. But he'd probably be the toughest I've fought."

What's amazing about these fights, besides the obvious family ties, is that Brashear used nearly the same technique to dominate both brothers. Check out both fights after the jump.

As I'm sure all of you are aware, this is Hockey Weekend Across America. (Did you remember to wear your favorite jersey to school on Friday?) Here at FanHouse, we were going to commemorate the occasion by celebrating the 15 years the U.S. has successfully kept Lord Stanley's chalice out of the syrup-covered hands of our neighbours to the nord, but we figured some members of the team might object to such blatant jingoism. Much more agreeable: A celebration of blood, fists and fury.

One look at the indispensable HockeyFights.com list of U.S.-born pugilists leaves one feeling ... yeah, I think "underwhelmed" might be the word. All due respect to Chris Tamer and Jim Cummins, there aren't enough "punchers" and more than a few "speed bags." But here they are, in completely debatable order and with little regard for anything that occurred more than 30 years ago: The Top 10 U.S.-Born Fighters in NHL History...

10. Derian Hatcher (Born: Jun 4, 1972 - Sterling Heights, Michigan): He was able to use his size (6-5, 235) and strength in a fight, unleashing some real bombs in a brawl. Check out this tussle with Darren Langdon of the Rangers to see how he handled a fellow heavyweight. Is he a cheap-shot artist? Sure. Did he pick on undersized and weaker opponents? Absolutely ... but is there anything more American than that?

Hockey Nerd Tuesday is a feature on NHL FanHouse that chronicles the stat-heads, gear geeks and fanboys (and girls) who spend an uncomfortable amount of time putting the "fan" in fanatic. Have a hockey nerd you'd like to see featured? E-mail Greg Wyshynski with the details.

If I attempted to draw a caricature of Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals, it would look like a post-bender Owen Wilson stuffed into a Pepsi can. Which is to say that it wouldn't look nearly as good as Paul Nichols's awesome work pictured here.

Nichols has a new blog called Capitals Art where he appears to be slowly cartooning his way through the Washington roster, having already drawn players like Donald Brashear and Olie Kolzig. (I'm hoping Olie doesn't get around to discovering his caricature, because his forehead is about a 27-head. The guy's got a temper.)

Nichols's other cartooning site doesn't exactly appeal to my Blue State sensibilities, but one of the great things about hockey fandom is the way ideology and politics usually stay out of the rink. He's got an eye for these Washington players, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next. In fact, he's looking for fans to select which former Capital he'll take a crack at: Rod Langway, Dale Hunter, Mike Gartner or Dennis Maruk. Might I suggest Option B, with a goofy drawing of Pierre Turgeon in celebratory anguish crumbled on the ice next to him?

Previously on FanHouse's Hockey Nerd Tuesday:
Bubble Trick Shots
O Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs Suck

Before I went to Tuesday night's Caps-Pens game, I told one of my co-workers that I was planning on talking to Caps fans on what they thought about the team's decision to junk their current uniform style for a retro red, white and blue look that will be familiar to long-time fans of the franchise.

My colleague said that he thought that was a good idea, but that I should probably think about asking them about fighting instead. Realizing he was right, I changed my plans, and once I got to the arena, I asked the Caps PR person, Nate Ewell, to get me five minutes with Donald Brashear after the game.

Needless to say, Brashear wasn't crazy about having to answer anymore questions about fighting. As my friend Rob Visconti said a few days ago, asking Donald Brashear to talk about fighting is a lot like asking the Rolling Stones to play 'Satisfaction' for the eight millionth time. And at the start of the video, it's pretty clear he's not exactly happy with me.
But to Donald's credit, once the questions started, he never hesitated to answer anything that I asked. And as you can see, he had a lot of interesting things to say about how he and other guys who play his role in the league feel that they have to suffer so the superstars can do their jobs. And no matter how you might feel about fighting, Brashear is worth listening to.