It’s common knowledge that you’ve got to sacrifice a lot in order to win the Stanley Cup, but Brooks Orpik just took it to another level.
Wednesday marked one of hockey’s most treasured traditions — players revealing their gruesome injuries they had to play through in order to win the Stanley Cup. Washington Capitals’ Nicklas Backstrom’s swollen fractured finger would normally be the winner, but nothing will make you more uncomfortable than Brooks Orpik’s injury this year.
Orpik revealed during his exit interviews that he got a part his pinkie sliced clean off after a slash to the hand from Vegas’s Erik Haula at the end of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. Because that’s just a normal thing that happens all the time.
After more than 15 years in the NHL, Orpik has been through absolutely everything. He’s had his share of debilitating injuries in the past, so this was probably like stubbing his toe. In his words, his finger just “kinda fell off.”
Orpik found the finger in his glove afterwards, got it reattached to the rest of his hand, and missed absolutely zero time as he returned next game for Game 3 back on home ice. Haula might as well have sneezed on him.
Odds are Orpik won’t even remember the injury considering how insignificant it was to what happened in game. Orpik scored his first goal in over two years in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals against Vegas, snapping a drought that lasted 221 regular season and playoff games. The goal put the Capitals up 3-1, and would stand as the first ever game winning goal in the Stanley Cup Finals in a 3-2 win to tie the series at 1-1, and he was promptly rewarded for such an achievement with getting his finger hacked off by Erik Haula.
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Orpik’s future with the Capitals is still in question given their cap situation and the buyout window opening June 15, but no matter what, you can never say he never did anything for them.