Early career Brashear was signed as a free agent by the
Montreal Canadiens in 1992. He spent parts of three seasons with their
American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the
Fredericton Canadiens, before becoming a regular with Montreal at the NHL level. During the
1993–94 AHL season, he registered professional career highs of 38 goals and 66 points, along with 250
Penalty Minutes (PIMs) in 62 games. His 38 goals tied him for the team lead and the 250 PIMs led Fredericton. Brashear made his NHL debut on November 15, 1993, against the
Ottawa Senators. He registered an
assist in the contest, his first career NHL
point. Two days later, he scored his first NHL
goal in a game against the
Edmonton Oilers. After playing parts of four seasons with the Canadiens, his time in Montreal ended following a heated verbal exchange with head coach
Mario Tremblay during a team practice Brashear finished the year with 13 points and 245 penalty minutes. Those penalty minutes were the seventh-highest in the NHL. The following season,
1997–98, Brashear led the NHL in penalty minutes and set a Canucks franchise record with 372 PIMs, while adding 18 points. During the season, he also received a four-game suspension for delivering a blind-side punch to
Ian Laperrière. Brashear stated that he hit Laperrière in retaliation to Laperrière punching Brashear's teammate
Gino Odjick from behind. The
1998–99 season marked the only time in his career which he played in all 82 games, again leading the Canucks in penalty minutes and finishing eighth in the NHL. In the
1999–2000 season, Brashear set a career-high in goals with 11,
McSorley incident During a February 21, 2000 Canucks home game against the
Boston Bruins, Brashear was involved in a fight with
Marty McSorley. Brashear handily won the fight and, on his way to the penalty box, taunted the Bruins' bench. Later in the game, Brashear collided with Bruins goaltender
Byron Dafoe, who had to be taken off on a stretcher with a knee injury. For the rest of the game, McSorley was eager for a rematch with Brashear, who refused to fight again. With 4.6 seconds left in the game, a frustrated McSorley finally swung his
stick toward Brashear's head from behind and struck him with a two-handed slash to the right temple. and was charged with assault with a weapon as a result of his actions. The case went to trial in
British Columbia, where Brashear testified that he had no memory of the incident. McSorley testified that he tried to hit Brashear in the shoulder to start a fight with him, but missed, resulting in the head shot. McSorley was found guilty but avoided a jail sentence. He was required to complete 18 months of
probation, in which he was not allowed to play in a game against Brashear. Brashear returned to play before the end of the season. The incident effectively ended McSorley's career, as he never played in another NHL game. Brashear was often asked later if he ever talked with McSorley about the incident, and always responded the same way: he and McSorley had no relationship prior to it, and had no plans to ever speak to each other about what had happened.
Mid-career Brashear played in 79 games the following
season, registering 19 assists and 28 points. While splitting time between the two franchises, Brashear set a career-high in points (32) while also amassing 199 PIMs. In
2002–03, he recorded eight goals, 25 points and 161 PIMs. Thanks in part to his strong work ethic, he was awarded the
Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy, an annual award given to the Flyers' most improved player. During the
2003–04 season, he was among the League leaders in PIMs, registering 212, ranking him fifth overall. His PIM total was aided by his role in the
most penalized game in NHL history. On March 5, 2004, the Flyers were defeating the Ottawa Senators 5–2, when with 1:45 remaining in the game, Brashear fought Ottawa enforcer
Rob Ray. The fight was believed to be in retaliation to Flyers forward
Mark Recchi being slashed in the face by the Senators
Martin Havlát. Following Brashear's fight, five separate brawls broke out. When asked later why he started the fighting, he responded by saying, "Why wouldn’t I? Did you see the last game?" He registered 18 goals and 50 points in 47 games, His statement came following a game in which he attempted to fight
Darius Kasparaitis, who the Flyers believed delivered a "cheap shot" to
Simon Gagné in an
Olympic game earlier in the year. After Kasparaitis refused to fight Brashear at various points in the game, Brashear hit Kasparaitis with a gloved punch with 1:53 remaining in the game. Brashear was given a one-game suspension At the end of the year, he was again in the top ten (eighth) in PIMs, accumulating 166, but his offensive production dropped to a mere nine points. The Flyers opted not to re-sign the enforcer. The
Washington Capitals then signed Brashear on July 14, 2006, to a one-year, $1 million contract. The signing was to provide
Alexander Ovechkin with some on-ice protection. Capitals management felt that Brashear was skilled enough not to be a liability on the team while bringing an intimidating presence. During the
2006–07 season, the Capitals decided to extend Brashear's contract, signing him to a one-year, $1.1 million contract extension. He was suspended one game by the NHL during the regular season for punching
New York Rangers defenceman
Aaron Ward following a fight between Brashear and
Brendan Shanahan. In the game, Shanahan felt Brashear was taking liberties with Rangers captain
Jaromír Jágr, and subsequently challenged Brashear to a fight. Brashear won the fight and motioned as if he was dusting off his hands. Ward then approached him and had words with Brashear, who responded by punching him in the face, earning Brashear a
game misconduct for intent to injure and eventually the suspension. At season's end, his point total increased from the previous season to 13 and his 156 PIMs ranked him in the top ten (sixth) in the League for the sixth time in his career. In the
2007–08 season, Brashear played in 80 games for the Capitals, but his offensive production slipped down to eight points while registering only 119 PIMs. However, he served as one of the Capitals'
alternate captains. On January 24, 2008, the Capitals once again re-signed Brashear, this time to a one-year, $1.2 million extension. In the
2008–09 season, Brashear's point total dropped to four, his lowest total since
1995–96 while he was with the Montreal Canadiens. During the
2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, he earned a suspension for two separate on-ice incidents. On April 26, 2009, the Capitals faced the New York Rangers in Game 6 of their first-round series. In the pre-game warm-ups, Brashear shoved Rangers enforcer
Colton Orr, then delivered a blind-side hit to
Blair Betts mid-way through the game's first period. As a result of the hit, and a possible elbow, Betts suffered a broken orbital bone and was out indefinitely.
Colin Campbell ruled that the hit was late on an unsuspecting player; he also believed it targeted the head, and as a result caused significant injury. For his actions, Brashear was given a six-game suspension by the League — one for the pre-game altercation and five for the hit on Betts. The Capitals, however, opted not re-sign him. After initial talks with the
Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)'s
Vityaz Chekhov, he eventually agreed to a two-year, $2.8 million contract with the New York Rangers. At an event for season-ticket holders, Brashear was booed due to the altercation with the Rangers in the previous post-season. He set a personal milestone during the
2009–10 season by playing in his 1,000th NHL game on November 12 against the
Atlanta Thrashers. Brashear struggled in New York, however, registering just one assist and 73 PIMs in 36 games; he became unhappy with his role in New York and asked the Rangers for a trade. Following a stretch of seven-straight and 12 of 13 games where he was a healthy scratch, the Rangers placed Brashear on
waivers. After clearing waivers, he was assigned to the Rangers' AHL affiliate, the
Hartford Wolf Pack. Despite the demotion, Brashear was happy to be receiving steady ice time whilst in Hartford. At the end of the season, the Rangers again placed Brashear on waivers, making him eligible for a contract buyout. Instead of buying-out his contract, however, the Rangers traded Brashear on August 2, 2010, along with
Patrick Rissmiller, to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for centre
Todd White. Atlanta then placed Brashear on waivers and bought-out the remaining year of his contract, thus making him an unrestricted free agent. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Brashear ranked 15th all-time in NHL history for penalty minutes. After not receiving serious interest from any NHL teams, Brashear opted to return to the LNAH and signed with
Sorel-Tracy GCI. He noted that his decision was based on his desire to continue playing hockey, his love for playing in the province of Quebec, and a chance to reunite with some former teammates. He was later traded during the season to
Rivière-du-Loup 3L to add talent and toughness to the team. Rivière-du-Loup considered the acquisition of Brashear a "coup," noting that they could not pass up the chance to add him to the team. Late in the season, Brashear was given a suspension following his actions in a brawl against Trois-Rivières. During the melee, Brashear attacked goaltender Julien Ellis after he slashed one of Brashear's teammates who was engaged in a different fight. Brashear hit Ellis with several gloved punches before one of Ellis' teammates attempted to restrain Brashear. Brashear fought with the intervening player and after falling to the ice, Brashear continued to punch the defenceless player. He went back after the goaltender before a
linesman tackled him. The suspension was originally set at eight games, but after the League met with Brashear and Rivière-du-Loup's general manager, it was reduced to five games. In November 2014, Brashear stepped out of retirement and signed a contract with
Modo Hockey of the
Swedish Hockey League (SHL) for the remainder of the season. He scored once on a
power play on March 16, 2015 against
Vita Hästen. Brasher returned to the LNAH for one more season in 2015–2016, but would only play 7 games before retiring. He would later return to the LNAH 8 years later in the 2023–2024 season, coming out of retirement once again, to play for the
Jonquiere Marquis, getting into a fight in his first game. ==International play==