Mike Brown -- The Ultimate Beauty
Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Posted by crowdaddy56

The grit. The toughness. The punishment he puts on himself and his opponents. The stache.

We may only be halfway through the season, but Leaf fans are witnesses to some of the toughest hockey we have ever seen, and it is all coming from one man -- Mike Brown.

To fully understand how unreal this guy is, one must appreciate the style of game that he plays. It isn't one that the chewish writer's (Google "Chewish", click the Urban Dictionary definition...defines every writer in the big smoke) can fathom, nor is it one that the idiot soccer fan who is waiting for Sportsnet to show the Eurotrash feed of the Italian-Professional-who-gives a fuck.

No, it is the true fan who understands what it means to be this certain type of hockey player. That means knowing that it's the grinders that help get the 'ships, and it's the tough guys who pave the way for the stars to get the snipes, while these guys share ice packs in the box. It's about using that same ice pack to nurse a puck sized bruise on your thigh, not missing a shift, then going out there and blocking that same puck in that same fuckin' spot. For God's sake, the man broke his finger blocking once, then got up, hand dangling on the side, and went down to block another shot in a 4-3 OT loss to Tampa Bay on November 30th.

That right there shows that Browny already has earned the respect from the teammates, and the love from the fans.

At the All-Star break, playing 26 games (missing 23 games with that broken finger), Brown has 2 goals and 3 assists. Nothing too spectacular, but consider this – he leads the team in +/-, one of the best penalty killers in the division, finishes every check, and has 41 PIMs. Not to mention 7 fights, lightning the load on heavyweight Colton Orr.

Forget about statistics though, as this former Anaheim Duck has brought fearless hockey to Toronto.

You won't see him win any awards, he won't always get interviewed by the media, and he sure as hell won't get the big payday that those around him will get. But bet on this...Mike Brown is the ultimate beauty.

The only problem is, only the true fans know it.