Dave Brown

Dave Brown is considered by many to be one of hockey's all time greatest fighters.

"When he punched you, it hurt." said penalty minute king Tiger Williams of Brown. Tiger, who fought as much as anyone as his almost 4000 career penalty minutes will attest, fell short of naming the toughest guy he ever faced. But Williams had high praise for Terry O'Reilly, Dave Semenko and Dave Brown.

Lots of people have lots of respect for the 6'5" 220lb Brown, who is from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Brownie was an honest player who intimidated the opposition in order to keep them honest. No one would take liberties on one of Brown's teammates because if they did, they knew they would have to face the justice of Dave Brown.

So feared was Brown, he didn't even have to drop the gloves on many occasions. While playing with the San Jose Sharks, Dody Wood recalls an incident when Edmonton tough guy Louie Debrusk was causing some after-the-whistle commotion in the corner of the rink.

"(With his reputation) he just has to talk to (another player) and they're scared. Brownie just tapped him on the shoulder," Wood recalls, "and said, 'Louie, what are you doin'?'"

Debrusk simply skated away. Problem solved. Dave Brown's job was done. People feared Brown. More importantly, people respected him.

While Dave's only true on ice contribution was in terms of such intimidation, he was a valuable player. There is no way to measure such a contribution, nor his other contributions, mainly things such as leadership. About the only way to realize his value is to look at the fact that he played in the NHL for more than a decade, mostly with the same team. Given his lack of measurable contributions such as goals and assists, that tells us that Dave Brown was a valuable commodity.

An example of his leadership was how hard he practiced. He rarely got to actually play more than a couple of minutes in many games, but he spent hours working on his limited skating and puck skills. He was always there to help a teammate work on a drill. He also helped to develop a great camaraderie in the dressing room, as he was a very popular teammate.

Brown played in 729 games, mostly with the Philadelphia Flyers. He also played 2 1/2 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers where he was part of the 1990 Stanley Cup Championship. He spent his final season (1995-96) with the expansion San Jose Sharks. He scored 45 career goals while adding 52 assists for 97 points. And in the most telling stat of all, he spent 1789 minutes in the penalty box.