NHL & Minor Leagues » Donald Brashear

Horsing Around With Donald Brashear

BY Patrick Smyth

Goodbyes are never easy to say.

It’s no different for Donald Brashear this morning as he is preparing to embark on a 10-day road trip after playing in the Flyers’ final preseason game later that afternoon. The right winger will spend the first couple of days of the trip bonding with teammates in the woods of Banff, Alberta, and the rest of the time helping the Flyers try to win at the three Canadian cities that they’ll play in to open the season.

Dressed in an all black suit, Brashear looks ready to step on a fashion runway. It’s standard for players to dress their best on the way to the arena on game days, but Brashear isn’t going to the First Union Center. Not yet, at least.

Instead, he is standing on the soggy ground at Summer Jade Stables in Atco, New Jersey, saying goodbye to his four horses: Armani, Herbert, Layla and his newest horse, which affectionately goes by the name “Horse” until a better title is found. While he doesn’t have time to ride them, he shares a couple of minutes with them for the last time for more than a week. Brashear gives his horses a treat and tells them that he will see them soon and to be on their best behavior while he is away.

The affection that he showed with his horses disappears by game time and is replaced by the physical hostility that accompanies a 6’2”, 235-pound frame and a reputation as one of the NHL’s toughest players. Brashear hits the Washington Capitals all over the ice on his way to scoring two goals and earning the First Star of the game before the long road trip.

Jacqueline Smith, who owns the stables where Brashear keeps his horses and educates him about his new hobby, saw Brashear that morning with his horses and was also in attendance at the game. She couldn’t believe that someone so quiet and unassuming off the ice could cause so much havoc on it.

“When he flipped that guy Saturday with one little hand, I just went down,” Smith said. “It’s a whole different person.”

The on-ice version of Brashear is one of the most feared fighters in the game and has steadily improved his offensive production, highlighted by last season’s career-high 32 points. The off-ice version is soft spoken, reserved and obviously, a big horse enthusiast.

After signing a new four-year contract with the Flyers this summer, Brashear bought the horses to help him combat the pressure that accompanies being a professional athlete. The purchase satisfied a childhood yearning for the animals.

“I really do my best and focus mentally really hard,” Brashear said. “Once I get out of here, I want to do something that is a little easier for the mind. I had seen them on television and always wished I owned a ranch or something.”

His own ranch may have to wait, but for now Brashear is content to house them on Smith and her husband’s 7.5-acre property that borders a forest that stretches hundreds of acres. Smith had not heard of the hockey player until she met him and his fiancée, Gabriella, at a party hosted by Brashear’s neighbor this summer. She invited the two to visit her stables after hearing about their interest in the animals.

A few days later, Smith took Brashear to a horse dealer she knew. Brashear returned with three horses and later would buy a fourth one. Why four? Brashear said that, like people, each horse has a different personality and that he rides a different one based on his current mood.

Mellow? Armani and “Horse” are perfect for those quiet trail rides. Excited? Herbert is part thoroughbred and has long strides for open-field riding. Need a good listener? Layla is the best trained of them all.

“That’s why I have so many because I want different ones at different times,” Brashear said. “They are all different with different characters and you just have to learn how to deal with them for each time you have a different one.”

Simon Gagne and Justin Williams have visited Brashear’s horses and Todd Fedoruk recently bought a horse from Smith. Like Brashear’s, it is housed on Smith’s property.

Brashear hasn’t had any problems adjusting to each of his horses’ personalities while riding. In fact, Smith said she has been impressed with how well he is able to keep up with her riding group on trails and jumps. He’s even gotten some of his teammates interested in the animals.

“Brash took me out one day and took me on his horses,” Fedoruk said. “He said, ‘why don’t you buy your own?’ It’s a good hobby and we have time on our hands on the way home from practice [to see them].”

About the only time Brashear will have to see his horses now that the regular season is in full swing is for roughly 20 to 25 minutes each day on his way back from practice. The sacrifice is one worth making, Brashear said, because playing hockey is what he does best. That is quickly becoming the sentiment around the NHL after a career year last season that showed he was much more than one of the League’s best fighters.

His addition to the Flyers’ roster from Vancouver in exchange for Jan Hlavac last December proved to be just the spark the team needed to overcome a sluggish start to the season. The Flyers went 14-2-0 in the first 16 games after Brashear’s arrival, including an eight-game winning streak.

Brashear showed a flash and creativity in his offensive game last year, while at the same time collecting 199 penalty minutes. Flyers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock believes Brashear will do even better this season playing in his structured system.

“We are able to put him in areas that maybe a lot of tough guys can’t play in,” Hitchcock said. “I think he brings a lot to this team right now, not just the fighting part.

“That’s part of his game, but he brings a lot of physical play and energy to the group and I think he’s just good for us right now.”

A strong offensive performance in training camp helped Brashear catch Hitchcock’s eye and had the coach looking for ways to get him involved more offensively. Brashear, who has played most of his NHL career on a checking line, started the season playing along side Jeremy Roenick and Mark Recchi.

His NHL experience playing on a scoring line may be lacking, but it is a role that he excelled at in the minor leagues. As an undrafted free agent in the Montreal Canadiens’ organization, Brashear’s offensive numbers exploded during his second professional season in 1993-94. He recorded 66 points (38G,28A) in 62 games for Fredericton of the American Hockey League, while leading the team in penalty minutes with 250.

His production earned him 14 games with the Canadiens during that season. It was there he said that he learned the value that his fighting and physical play can bring to a team.

“The way my teammates reacted when I was doing it made me feel like it was important what I was doing,” Brashear said. “Sometimes you realize what you really need is to see the team trust in what you are doing and have everyone else around you make you feel like what you are doing is real important.

“Then you see the importance of it and you get better at it and choose the right moments and right times.”

Brashear said sometimes other teams target him during games for no reason and other times he’ll initiate the fisticuffs to get under another player’s skin or to protect a teammate. Hitchcock said Brashear has a knack for determining the right time and way to best use his physical assets.

“That’s kind of a business that’s a player’s business and they read it better than a lot of coaches,” Hitchcock said. “They think of things that we don’t ever think of and I think that Brashear reads what is going on the ice better than anybody I’ve seen around.”

Like the boxing done inside the ring, the jabbing that takes place on the ice is a product of individual fighters’ strategies. Brashear uses a defensive approach when he drops the gloves and aims to take control of his opponent. The results of his fights can be frighteningly one-sided when he gets control of his opposition as the New York Rangers’ tough guy Sandy McCarthy found out this preseason.

In a fight that he considers both one of his best and longest, Brashear thoroughly whipped McCarthy and actually cracked his helmet in the process. Although McCarthy’s hair could be seen sticking through the crack on top of his helmet as he skated off the ice, Brashear humbly doubts that his fists broke the piece of equipment.

“It’s kind of hard to break a helmet in half when you figure you can get a puck in the head and it’s not supposed to break,” he said.

Brashear said he’s excited to have responsibilities under Hitchcock that will be further reaching than breaking opponents’ helmets. As his newly found interest in horses will attest, he’s never been afraid to try something new.

Der hätte lieber mal den Grinsemann namens Domi letzte Woche verprügeln sollen als sich auf dem Rücken dieses Gauls die Zeit zu vertreiben!!

Méschda Hoschbess holy

...und nichts ist wie es scheint!! I can´t give You what the fuck You want!!

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