Brooks Orpik (b. September 26, 1980 in San Francisco, California) is an American ice-hockey defenseman. He attended Nichols School, in Buffalo, NY. Orpik was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins as the 18th overall pick of the 2000 NHL entry draft. He played collegiately at Boston College, winning the Hockey East postseason championship in 1999 and 2001, and the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship in 2001.
Orpik began playing professionally with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League during the 2001-02 AHL season. He made his NHL debut during the 2002-03 season, playing in 6 games, but recording no points. After earning a permanent roster spot on the team next year, Orpik contributed in 79 games, tallying 1 goal, 9 assists, and 127 penalty minutes.
On March 4, 2006, Orpik roughly checked Erik Cole of the Carolina Hurricanes from behind and into the boards during the third period. Cole suffered a fractured C5 vertebra in his neck and was out for the rest of the season. Orpik was suspended for 3 games. When Mark Recchi was traded to Carolina from Pittsburgh just a few days later, Orpik asked Recchi for Cole's phone number in order to apologize. Cole declined.
Orpik played with current teammate Ryan Whitney as a freshman at Thayer Academy.
Orpik was named after the head coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, Herb Brooks.
