He comes by the nickname BoroCop honestly.

There isn't a hit Borowiecki will pass on. A teammate he won't stick up for. A fight - be it along the woodwork, in front the net or mid-ice - he doesn't relish.

The first homegrown player ever selected by the Ottawa Senators, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound defenseman has staked a claim to everyday NHL employment by his devotion to contact and confrontation.

The hockey beginnings for the Kanata, Ontario, native goes back to Smiths Falls, where he played two seasons in the Canadian Junior Hockey League. During that time, Borowiecki was selected in the fifth round (No. 139) in the 2008 NHL Draft.

Enrolling at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., Borowiecki spent three seasons refining his game in an ECAC program that has turned out a number of NHL players, including Todd Marchant, Craig Conroy, Willie Mitchell, Erik Cole and Dave Taylor. Borowiecki's leadership abilities were recognized in 2010-2011, when he served as team captain.

Turning professional, Borowiecki spent the majority of the next three seasons with Binghamton of the American Hockey League, but also played eight game with Ottawa, including his NHL debut on Jan. 19, 2012, in a 4-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks.

A longshot to reach the NHL when the Senators selected him, he methodically worked his way up the ladder and made an impression with penalty-minute totals of 127, 157 and 158, respectively, from 2011-14 at Binghamton.

Fully aware of the dynamic, uncompromising style Borowiecki would bring to the mix in Ottawa, by 2013 the organization decided to give him a longer look. By that October, he'd landed a spot on the Senators' roster straight out of training camp.

Borowiecki's first two complete seasons (2014-16) in the arena he'd grown up dreaming of playing as a kid yielded both 63 games and 107 penalty minutes, establishing himself as a dependable, third-pairing defenseman who added a welcome edge to the back line.