TOP 100 OILERS: DAVE BROWN (60)
7 years ago
Dave Brown spent just 140 regular season games and 26 more in playoffs as a member of the Edmonton Oilers, but if there’s ever been more of a bad-ass and a flat-out stone-cold killer who was more feared by opponents in a long line of notable enforcers, I haven’t met him.
Brown never needed a written invitation to unholster the jackhammer left hand that was his calling card — wrapped in a tapered and fitted jersey sleeve that made it impossible for opponents to hold on for dear life – and when he did, it was with bad intentions. Brown was hockey’s version of Dirty Harry. He was Anton Chigurh before No Country for Old Men. He had a job to do. Nothing personal.
Dave Brown (Fight card)
Right Wing — shoots R
Born Oct 12 1962 — Saskatoon, SASK
Height 6.05 — Weight 210 [196 cm/95 kg]
Drafted by Philadelphia Flyers
Round 7 #140 overall 1982 NHL Entry Draft
BY THE NUMBERS
Season | Age | Tm | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S | S% |
1982-83 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | |
1983-84 | 21 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 98 | 9 | 11.1 | |
1984-85 | 22 | 57 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 165 | 53 | 5.7 | |
1985-86 | 23 | 76 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 7 | 277 | 73 | 13.7 | |
1986-87 | 24 | 62 | 7 | 3 | 10 | -7 | 274 | 53 | 13.2 | |
1987-88 | 25 | 47 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 10 | 114 | 41 | 29.3 | |
1988-89 | 26 | TOT | 72 | 0 | 5 | 5 | -12 | 156 | 42 | 0.0 |
1988-89 | 26 | 50 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -8 | 100 | 28 | 0.0 | |
1988-89 | 26 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 56 | 14 | 0.0 | |
1989-90 | 27 | 60 | 0 | 6 | 6 | -3 | 145 | 32 | 0.0 | |
1990-91 | 28 | 58 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -7 | 160 | 32 | 9.4 | |
1991-92 | 29 | 70 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -11 | 81 | 50 | 8.0 | |
1992-93 | 30 | 70 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -5 | 78 | 19 | 0.0 | |
1993-94 | 31 | 71 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -12 | 137 | 16 | 6.3 | |
1994-95 | 32 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 53 | 8 | 12.5 | |
1995-96 | 33 | 37 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 46 | 8 | 37.5 | |
11 yrs | PHI | 552 | 39 | 39 | 78 | -27 | 1382 | 352 | 11.1 | |
3 yrs | EDM | 140 | 3 | 12 | 15 | -14 | 361 | 78 | 3.8 | |
1 yr | SJS | 37 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 46 | 8 | 37.5 | |
Career | 729 | 45 | 52 | 97 | -37 | 1789 | 438 | 10.3 |
PLAYOFFS
Season | Age | Tm | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S | S% |
1983-84 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0.0 | |
1984-85 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 59 | 3 | 0.0 | |
1985-86 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 16 | 4 | 0.0 | |
1986-87 | 24 | 26 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 59 | 15 | 6.7 | |
1987-88 | 25 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 27 | 6 | 16.7 | |
1988-89 | 26 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | |
1989-90 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | |
1990-91 | 28 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 30 | 11 | 0.0 | |
1994-95 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | |
Career | 80 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -11 | 209 | 49 | 4.1 |
NOTABLE
Let’s get to the obvious right off the top. There’s a compilation of some of Brown’s fights here. Brown’s called shot against Stu Grimson of the Calgary Flames – a rematch set up by his well-known “Don’t go for a coffee” line – is here. If you watch until the end of the clip, you’ll see Brown in an equally well-known verbal exchange with Calgary tough guy Tim Hunter. As an encore performance, Brown’s demolition of Jim Kyte is below.
Brown was so feared that, even at the end of his career, the toughest players in the game were hesitant to mess with him. During the 1995-96 season, when Brown was with San Jose, Oiler rookie Georges Laraque found himself lined up against Brown during pre-season. “He was looking at me and he was breathing heavy. I kept my head down. It was so far down I could look between my legs and see my goaltender,” laughed Laraque, who wisely fought somebody else.
In an excerpt from his book, Laraque recalled: “I was so scared because of the moment with Dave Brown that it’s all that was in my mind and I didn’t care if I had a $50 million signing bonus to start the year. I was petrified. All I was thinking was ‘Man, somebody is going to break my face.’ It’s scary to do that. You could die in a fight. At 18 years old when I was at my first camp, it was awesome to see Doug Weight and Kelly Buchberger and see those guys. But to see a grown man with a beard when I had little pieces of facial fair, nothing, breathing on top of me at the faceoff. I’d be like, ‘I have to fight that to be here? F–k that.’ That’s how I felt at that time.”
THE STORY
On a personal note, I first met Brown shortly after joining the Edmonton Journal during the 1989-90 season heading into the 1990 Cup run. At the time, I had one of those goofy little pony tails that were in vogue. I was working the Oiler room one day when somebody came up behind me and gave it a tug. I turned around, a bit pissed off to be honest, ready to run my mouth. It was Brown. He smiled and said nothing. Then, he made a scissor motion with his fingers. It got it cut off right after that. No lie.
There’s no disputing that the game has changed to the point where there really isn’t a place for players like Brown today, but in the era when he performed his bloody knuckles handiwork, if Brown wasn’t at the very top of the list of most feared enforcers of his time, he was damn sure close to it. Opponents feared him. Teammates respected him for having their backs without question, no matter what.
When the Oilers won their last Stanley Cup in 1990 in Boston, captain Mark Messier kicked off the celebration by parading the Cup before handing it off to Adam Graves. Moments later, Messier noticed that Brown, who hadn’t dressed in that final game, had made his way down to the bench. Messier waded back into the celebration, grabbed the Cup and handed it off to Brown. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
If you want a little more Brownie you can check out his Hockeyfights page.
This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260.
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