Orpik was born in San Francisco and goes by his middle name (his first name is Richard), given to him in honor of famed coach Herb Brooks, who led the United States to the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. Orpik's family moved to New York, where he began playing hockey before landing at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts, which has produced 1980 United States Olympic team member Dave Silk and former NHL player Jeremy Roenick.

Orpik has made life miserable for opposing forwards since the 6-foot-3, 217-pound defenseman brought his punishing style of play to the NHL in 2003. He's played on Stanley Cup-winning teams with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 and the Washington Capitals in 2018, when he was an NHL-best plus-17 in 24 games.

Orpik has made life miserable for opposing forwards since the 6-foot-3, 217-pound defenseman brought his punishing style of play to the NHL in 2003. He's played on Stanley Cup-winning teams with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 and the Washington Capitals in 2018, when he was an NHL-best plus-17 in 24 games.

Orpik was born in San Francisco and goes by his middle name (his first name is Richard), given to him in honor of famed coach Herb Brooks, who led the United States to the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. Orpik's family moved to New York, where he began playing hockey before landing at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts, which has produced 1980 United States Olympic team member Dave Silk and former NHL player Jeremy Roenick.

Following his sophomore season at Boston College, when he represented the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championship, Orpik was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the No. 18 pick of the 2000 NHL Draft. He returned for his junior year in 2000-01 and helped BC win the NCAA championship for the first time since 1949.

The Penguins signed Orpik to an entry-level contract and he started his pro career in 2001-02, playing 78 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pittsburgh's American Hockey League affiliate. In 2003-04 he brought his hard-hitting, defensive-minded style to the Penguins as a regular.

Orpik grew into a leadership role with Pittsburgh, ascending to a top-four defenseman. During the 2007-08 season, Orpik averaged less than 17 minutes per game in the regular season, but that number increased by nearly four minutes per game in the postseason, when Pittsburgh reached the Stanley Cup Final.

In 2008-09, Orpik nearly doubled his offensive production from the previous season with 19 points (two goals, 17 assists) and his average ice time increased by more than three minutes per game. The Penguins returned to the Stanley Cup Final and defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games for the third championship in their history and first since 1992.

Following 11 seasons with the Penguins, Orpik became an unrestricted free agent and signed a five-year contract with the Capitals on July 1, 2014. He continued to provide a physical presence on the second and third defense pairs and become a mentor for some of Washington's young defensemen. And although offense has never been his strong suit, Orpik scored the winning goal in Game 2 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, sparking the Capitals to the first championship since they entered the NHL in 1974.

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