Liam O’Brien

Liam O’Brien recalled by the Capitals for his second stint in Washington

The Washington Capitals announced Friday morning that they have recalled The Big Tuna, Liam O’Brien, from AHL Hershey. Hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and weighing 215 pounds, the enforcer has turned himself more into a finisher at the AHL level this season, tallying 18 points in 28 games and nine points in his last eight games. He’s only dropped the gloves two times this season.

This is not the tonguing O’Brien’s first stint in Washington. The forward (who resembles WWE’s Sheamus) played in 13 games during the 2014-15 season, tallying a goal and an assist. But he drove play big time, tallying a 54.9 shot attempt percentage and a +3.9 relative shot attempt percentage.

Without an extra forward available after sending down Jakub Vrana earlier in the week, the team decided it wanted insurance ahead of their road trip in Ottawa and Montreal.

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By Ian Oland 6 years ago

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Jakub Vrana scores his ninth goal of the season after Travis Boyd finds him with the twister pass

The Hershey Bears lost to rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4-3 in overtime Saturday night, but let’s focus on the good.

In the first period, Bears center Travis Boyd hit Jakub Vrana with Evgeny Kuznetsov’s twister pass to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. I’m serious.

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By Ian Oland 6 years ago

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Nathan Walker scores twice as Bears defeat Comets 4-2

The Hershey Bears were able to snap their three-game skid Wednesday night in Utica, beating the Comets 4-2. Capitals prospect Nathan Walker scored two goals, including the game-winning tally. Recent ECHL call-up Domenic Monardo added two assists.

The Bears’ first goal was scored by Liam O’Brien on a fire drill in front of the net.Hershey would increase their lead later in the period on a Chris Bourque five-on-three power play goal with assists from Paul Carey and Jakub Vrana.

The assist marked Carey’s 12th point of the year in 13 games. Vrana’s assist would bring his season point total to ten. Walker now has four goals and four assists on the year. Bears Goalie Joe Cannata stopped a total of 19 shots against his former team.

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By Spenser Smallwood 6 years ago

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Washington Capitals top 10 prospects: honorable mentions

For the purpose of this series, a prospect will be defined as an under-25 player in the Capitals system who was not on the team’s roster for the majority of last season. This allows us to focus on guys who many know little about. You will not see Stan Galiev, Philipp Grubauer, or Andre Burakovsky among others in this list.

The Washington Capitals have 28 prospects in their system who match the criteria set above. Below are those ranked 11 through 28.

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By Spenser Smallwood 7 years ago

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AHL Enforcers Take Fight to Twitter: Liam O’Brien Tells Tom Sestito to ‘Take the Rocks Out of His Head’

Photo: Kyle Mace

The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins are currently engaged in a brutal playoff series, which has featured multiple head shots and two suspensions. Meanwhile, in the American Hockey League, the two organizations’ farm teams are playing each other and things have gotten feisty as well.

Monday during Game Four, Hershey Bears and WBS Penguins players almost brawled during warm-ups, trash talking each other at center ice. According to Chocolate Hockey’s Kyle Mace, Penguins’ forward Tom Sestito tripped Liam O’Brien, looking for a fight. After the game, the rivalry spilled onto social media, with O’Brien verbally eviscerating Sestito on Twitter.

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By Chris Cerullo 7 years ago

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What Caps Players Did During the DC Blizzard

Photo: @Kuzya92

Over the last two days, the DC Blizzard dropped two feet of snow in the district and three feet in surrounding areas. The snow forced the cancellation of both Caps’ home games this weekend including tilts against the Ducks and Penguins. That leaves the Caps in a really weird stretch, where they’ll only play one game in 14 days.

Without hockey, the players spent time with their families and messing around on social media. I went ahead and documented it all.

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By Ian Oland 7 years ago

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Liam O’Brien ‘Devastated’ By Closure of Arlington Vapiano Restaurant

Photo credit: ARLnow

If there’s one thing hockey players like it’s pasta. For eight years, Capitals players flocked to the Vapiano on Wilson Boulevard, just a few blocks away from Kettler. At the end of June, however, the German-owned chain closed down its Arlington location. Upon hearing the news, Liam O’Brien, who skated 13 games with the Capitals last season, was crushed.

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By Chris Gordon 8 years ago

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Happy Easter From Andre Burakovsky and the Easter Bunny (Photo)

Photo: @andreburakovsky

A few days ago, when he was still in Hershey, Andre Burakovsky took a photo with the Easter Bunny and teammate Liam O’Brien.

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By Ian Oland 8 years ago

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Breaking Down the Hershey Bears’ Line Brawl, Pheonix Copley’s Goalie Fight (GIF)

Photo: Kyle Mace/Chocolate Hockey

Saturday night, the Hershey Bears and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (the New York Islanders affiliate) played one of the most entertaining and violent American Hockey League games of the season. The Bears and Sound Tigers combined to score seven goals and earn nearly 200 penalty minutes. The game featured a chaotic line-brawl, a goalie fight, eight ejections, and 12 misconducts.

By now, you’ve probably already seen the video (taken by RMNB alumnus Kyle Mace) of Caps prospects Steve Oleksy, Connor Carrick, Chris Brown, Liam O’Brien, and the Bears’ goalie combatant, Pheonix Copley. By Sunday night, the video had amassed over 130,000 views.

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By Ian Oland 8 years ago

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Hockey is Even Better in Slow Motion (Video)

Much like Jay Beagle, I discarded my dearest flipper this season and traded it in for an iPhone 6. On Saturday, I went to the Hershey Bears game and went crazy with its video settings and some attachable camera lenses I bought. The results were incredible.

From my glass side seats I captured Mike Moore‘s overtime game-winning goal and the Bears subsequent celebration. Like they celebrated freaking inches from me. While I didn’t notice it live, former Caps enforcer Liam O’Brien kissed Moore on the noggin. Also, I’ve never seen Philipp Grubauer so excited in my life.

No matter if it was Steve Oleksy doing a double skate stop in front of the net or Connor Carrick flipping the puck to himself skating up the ice, there are so many amazing things we miss in hockey at full speed. So I slowed them down.

Here are the Hershey Bears in slow-motion.

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By Ian Oland 8 years ago

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