Brooks Orpik
Defensive minded
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik is making his Olympic debut in Vancouver. A defensive-minded blueliner, Orpik uses his size and strength to neutralize opponents. Playing in his sixth NHL season, all with the Penguins, Orpik has never scored more than two goals in a season. But he regularly averages more than 20 minutes of ice time per game, and provides value beyond what his stats indicate.
Cup win
Orpik won the Stanley Cup in 2009 with the Penguins, in their second-consecutive trip to the finals. During his time with the Cup in the summer, he brought it to Boston College, where he played three seasons (1998-2001) before joining the Penguins' AHL affiliate. Orpik invited fans to BC to take pictures with him and the Cup. In his final season at BC, Orpik led the Eagles to the NCAA title.
International experience
The Penguins' deep runs in the playoffs have kept Orpik from playing in the World Championships in recent years, but in 2006 he appeared in all seven games for a very young U.S. team that finished seventh in the post-Torino event. In 2000, following his sophomore season at Boston College, Orpik skated for the U.S. at the World Juniors, scoring a goal and an assist as the U.S. finished fourth.
Hockey roots
Orpik's younger brother, Andrew, also played hockey at Boston College and now plays for the San Antonio Rampage, the Phoenix Coyotes' AHL affiliate. Orpik was born in San Francisco, but grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., where he first discovered hockey. He lived in Buffalo for nine years, before leaving to attend Thayer Academy, near Boston, for high school.
Both of these players were in the Mass/USA Hockey Satellite Training Program in the early & mid 90's, when players were not allowed to miss training sessions and travel to summer exposure tournaments.
