Brookbank played three seasons with the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, before turning pro. He played one season with the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL, and then played two seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. Brookbank was then signed by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and played two seasons with their AHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. He was not re-signed, and in August 2005, he signed a contract with the Predators. In the 2005–06 season with the Predators' affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, Brookbank had 9 goals, 35 points, and 232 penalty minutes. The 2006–07 season saw Brookbank named as captain of the Admirals as well as his first call up to the NHL. He appeared in 3 games with the Predators, and had 1 assist and 12 penalty minutes. He won the Eddie Shore Award as the American Hockey League's Outstanding Defenceman and was an AHL First Team All-Star. While in the AHL that season, he led all defencemen in points at 53 points. On July 2, 2007, Brookbank was signed by the Blue Jackets. He joined the Devils on October 2, 2007 after being waived by the Blue Jackets. He played in 44 games with the Devils in the 2007–08 season, and had 8 assists. On February 3, 2009, Brookbank was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for the rights to David McIntyre. He finished the season with one goal and three assists. The 2009–10 season saw Brookbank play 66 NHL games which included the Ducks' final 56 consecutive games. At season's end, he led all Ducks defensemen in plus/minus to place 2nd overall on the team. On June 2, 2010, Brookbank re-signed to a two-year contract to remain with the Ducks. Brookbank played a career-high 80 games during the 2011–12 season, and scored a career-best 3 goals and 11 assists. On July 1, 2012, Brookbank signed a two-year, $2.5 million free agent deal with the Chicago Blackhawks and went on to win the Stanley Cup with the team during the 2013 season. Brookbank was not re-signed by the Blackhawks at the completion of his contract and became a free agent. Without a contract offer, Brookbank agreed to a training camp try-out with the Calgary Flames but was released by the team on October 1, 2014. Brookbank turned to Russia, and signed a one-year contract with Ak Bars Kazan of the Kontinental Hockey League on October 31, 2014. The following season, Brookbank remained abroad, moving to the Finnish Liiga, in belatedly signing for Lukko Rauma on November 6, 2015. In 38 games with Lukko, Brookbank added 4 points. As a free agent the following summer, Brookbank returned to North America, signing a professional try-out with defending Calder Cup champions, the Cleveland Monsters on October 13, 2016. In the 2016–17 season, in adding depth cover to the Monsters blueline, Brookbank registered one assist in six games before he was released at the conclusion of his trial period on December 12, 2016.
Coaching career
On June 14, 2017, it was announced that Brookbank had been hired as the assistant coach of the Rockford Ice Hogs, the minor league affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. On January 4, 2019, he was added as an assistant coach to the Blackhawks' coaching staff.
