Donald Brashear returns to hockey at 53, signs in Newfoundland

Former NHL enforcer Donald Brashear is getting back onto the ice at the age of 53. 

The veteran of 1,025 NHL games and 2,634 penalty minutes is set to suit up with the Corner Brook Royals of the Central Western Senior Hockey League in Newfoundland, which features three other teams, including the Deer Lake Red Wings, Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts and the Stephenville Lightning.

It won’t be Brashear’s first return to hockey since retiring from the NHL in 2010. 

In 2023-24, he played for the Jonquiere Marquis of Québec’s infamous LNAH, known for its physical play and fighting. There, he scored two goals and added eight points, while amassing 45 penalty minutes in 24 games. 

That brief return marked his sixth season in the LNAH and his first since 2015-16.

Brashear’s penalty minutes total in the NHL ranked 15th-highest in league history, and his 372 penalty minutes in the 1997-98 season with the Vancouver Canucks ranked 10th all-time for the most in a single season.  

Throughout his 16 seasons in the NHL, Brashear played for the Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals and New York Rangers, and briefly returned to the top-tier professional ranks with 12 games in 2014 with MODO Hockey Ornskoldsvik in Sweden’s SHL. 

As for the Corner Brook Royals, they have announced just one other player for the 2025-26 roster, with former Iowa Wild AHL netminder Dereck Baribeau set to return for his second season with the team. 

Under first-year head coach Alex Snow, the Royals will open the 2025-26 regular season at home against the Red Wings on Nov. 8, kicking off their 18-game schedule with hopes of repeating last season’s performance, which landed them atop the regular season standings with a record of 14-3-1.

 Corner Brook features a population of 19,300 according to the 2021 Canadian census, and the Royals play out of the 3,100-person capacity Corner Brook Civic Centre.