Caps’ Hamrlik, Brouwer clear the air after lockout feud

It wasn’t Ari Gold-esque, but Troy Brouwer and Roman Hamrlik hugged it out.

That was the story out of Washington on Friday as the two Capitals teammates — who engaged in some verbal jousting during the lockout — said all was good between them.

“He’s still my friend, he’s still my teammate,” Brouwer told the Washington Times. “We came in, we had a good chat today.”

“He’s one of the best guys on the team,” Hamrlik added. “He’s a great teammate. We talked and we chat on the phone. And it’s no problem.”

The feud began in late November when Hamrlik told a Czech media outlet he was “disgusted” with union boss Donald Fehr, and that Fehr should be fired if the season got canceled.

Those comments made Hamrlik the first NHLPA member to break ranks (though Caps goalie Michal Neuvirth would soon join him.)

Unsurprisingly, they drew the ire of many fellow union members — including Brouwer, the Capitals’ alternate NHLPA team rep.

“For me, I think those guys selling us out, being selfish like that and making those comments…” he said. “Me being on their team, how am I going to trust them as a teammate from now on?

“Because you know they’re not going to support players in the big scheme of things when you go and you play on the team with them; it’s going to be tough to want to back those guys from now on.”

It now appears as though Brouwer 1) has amnesia, or 2) realizes he might’ve gone a tad over the top in criticizing his teammates.

“You can’t hold grudges and you cant have little high school grudge matches against each other,” Brouwer said. “It’s in the past, we aren’t worried about it anymore and we’re looking forward.

“We’re excited about this season and we have to play on the same team and we like where our team is right now.”