He has also suited up for the Prince George Cougars of the WHL and the Lowell Lock Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL).

[1] Brewer excelled with the Kamloops Bantam AAA Jardine Blazers of the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association (BCAHA).

[4] As a young hockey player, Brewer looked up to NHL stars Scott Niedermayer and Jeremy Roenick as role models.

[2] In mid-2004, Brewer married Rebecca Flann, whom he met while playing junior hockey with the Prince George Cougars; they live in Vancouver, British Columbia.

[8] Brewer's sister, Kristi, played for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds women's ice hockey team.

After representing Canada at the 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, he was named to the Western Conference team for the WHL All-Star Game in Regina, Saskatchewan, which he missed, as well as much of the season, due to injury.

[19][22] However, Brewer finished the year with 33 points in only 34 games, a near one point-per-game average, and was named to the WHL West Second All-Star Team.

Entering the NHL, Brewer was regarded as a future Norris Trophy candidate, and as a result, his contract was an entry level three-year, $2.775-million deal complemented by a $1-million signing bonus, the highest base salary available for a rookie.

[30] It was speculated that the reason behind this move was laziness by Brewer, who was benched during the final thirty minutes by head coach Butch Goring after losing a race for the puck against Mike Knuble in the Islanders' October 11, 1999, loss to the New York Rangers.

[37][38] However, Brewer's Oiler career began on a sour note as he suffered a bruised left hip and tailbone in his first game with the team.

[44] After a long holdout that lasted until the beginning of Oilers training camp, Brewer finally signed a two-year, $4-million contract in September 2002.

On November 22, 2003, Brewer was among the participants in the historic 2003 Heritage Classic ice hockey game versus the Montreal Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

[51] In August 2005, following the lockout, the Oilers traded Brewer, Jeff Woywitka and Doug Lynch to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenceman Chris Pronger.

By the first half of December 2006, Brewer had only amassed six points and a plus-minus rating of –11, often referred to as "the worst player on the ice" by both the media and Blues fans alike.

Brewer evolved into one of the top two-way defencemen in the NHL, with comparisons being made between him and former first overall draft pick Chris Phillips of the Ottawa Senators.

[73] Brewer had missed the Blues' previous 64 games prior to his return against the Coyotes, which was earlier than expected after rehabbing from his back surgeries that had been considered career threatening.

[74] Brewer's health largely remained stable throughout the season as he finished the year with 15 points in 59 games played, including tying his career-high in goals with eight.

Healthy to begin his sixth season with the Blues, Brewer recorded his 200th career point on December 15, 2010 against the Detroit Red Wings, assisting on a goal by Carlo Colaiacovo.

At the end of the 2010–11 season, Brewer recorded a career-high nine goals and also amassed 81 penalty minutes, good for the second-highest total of his NHL career.

He set a career-high with three points in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins and finished the playoffs ranked third among all skaters with 51 blocked shots.

[82] Brewer appeared in all four games for the Lightning during the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs as the team was swept in their first round series against the Montreal Canadiens.

On November 28, 2014, while in the final year of his contract with the Lightning, Brewer was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2015 NHL entry draft.

[85] On December 3, 2014, after playing in only two games for the Ducks, the team announced that Brewer was expected to miss four-to-six weeks after breaking a bone in his foot from a blocked shot.

[91] Two days later, the Maple Leafs honored Brewer's achievement with a ceremony prior to their game against the Minnesota Wild, at which they presented him with a silver stick, and Rolex watch, and a $10,000 charitable donation in his name.

[94] This was the tournament in which Canada had its worst ever showing, an eighth-place finish including a loss to Kazakhstan, giving Brewer an unkind welcome to IIHF international ice hockey.

[97] Later that year, on July 24, 2001, Brewer was invited to the orientation camp for the Canadian team for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

[103] He represented Canada once again the following year, when on April 22, 2003, Brewer was named to the Canadian roster for the 2003 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.

[104] In the tournament quarterfinals versus Germany, Brewer scored the game-winning goal 37 seconds into overtime to give Canada a 3–2 victory.

[105] Canada would go on to win their first Ice Hockey World Championships gold medal since the 1997 tournament, defeating Sweden 3–2 in overtime in the final.

[111] Just under one year following his World Cup appearance, Brewer was named to the orientation camp for the Canadian team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy held from August 15–20, 2005, in Vancouver and Kelowna, British Columbia.