Brian Glennie

Brian "Blunt" Glennie (August 29, 1946 – February 7, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1969 until 1979. Glennie was a master of the hip-check.[1]

Brian Glennie
Born (1946-08-29)August 29, 1946
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died February 7, 2020(2020-02-07) (aged 73)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 197 lb (89 kg; 14 st 1 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
Los Angeles Kings
National team  Canada
Playing career 1968–1979
Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey
1968 Winter Olympicsteam

Amateur career

Glennie was born in Toronto, Ontario. He had an outstanding junior career with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association, eventually captaining the team to the 1967 Memorial Cup.[2] As a PeeWee he was coached by future Toronto Maple Leafs coach Roger Neilson.[3]

After junior Glennie joined the Canadian National Team program run by Father David Bauer for the 1967-68 season. He was a member of the Canadian team in the 1968 Olympics which won the bronze medal.[4][5] This tournament was also representative of the IIHF World Championship.

Pro career

As a pro Glennie went on to play 572 career NHL games, all but 18 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring 14 goals and 100 assists for 114 points. Glennie, a defensive, hard-hitting defenceman was often paired with the offensively-skilled defencemen on the Leafs, such as Tim Horton, Börje Salming and more frequently former Marlboro teammate Jim McKenny.[6] Glennie has described his playing style as "a standup guy who would take the guy out" and his partner would then "get the puck and start something happening."[7] The Hockey News ranked Glennie #6 on their list of the best all-time body checkers.[8]

He was a member of Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series. While he did not have the opportunity to play against the Soviet Union, Brian played in two of the games against Sweden[9] and Czechoslovakia.[10] He counted the experience among the greatest of his life.[1]

In 1978, He joined Lanny McDonald in a Swanson Hungry-Man entree commercial in which Glennie rips off the door of the refrigerator.[11] Glennie died in Ottawa at the age of 73 in February 2020 after years of declining health.[12][13]

Honours and awards

1967 Memorial Cup (captain)
Bronze medal 1968 Winter Olympics
Inducted Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.[14]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1964–65 Toronto Marlboros OHA-Jr. 56 2 18 20 84 19 0 9 9 22
1965–66 Toronto Marlboros OHA-Jr. 48 5 18 23 134 14 0 4 4 57
1966–67 Michigan State Spartans WCHA 2 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
1966–67 Toronto Marlboros OHA-Jr. 43 5 39 44 113 17 2 12 14 44
1966–67 Toronto Marlboros MC — — — — — 9 2 9 11 18
1967–68 Ottawa Nationals OHA-Sr. 30 2 10 12 20 — — — — —
1967–68 Canada Intl 10 2 10 12 20 — — — — —
1968–69 Rochester Americans AHL 15 1 1 2 16 — — — — —
1968–69 Tulsa Oilers CHL 25 4 7 11 40 7 1 3 4 12
1969–70 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 52 1 14 15 50 — — — — —
1970–71 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 54 0 8 8 31 3 0 0 0 0
1971–72 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 61 2 8 10 44 5 0 0 0 25
1972–73 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 44 1 10 11 54 — — — — —
1973–74 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 65 4 18 22 100 3 0 0 0 10
1974–75 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 63 1 7 8 110 — — — — —
1975–76 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 69 0 8 8 75 6 0 1 1 15
1976–77 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 69 1 10 11 73 2 0 0 0 0
1977–78 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 77 2 15 17 62 13 0 0 0 16
1978–79 Los Angeles Kings NHL 18 2 2 4 22 — — — — —
NHL totals 572 14 100 114 621 32 0 1 1 66

International
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1968 Canada OLY 7 0 1 1 10

References
  1. "Profile at Legends of Hockey". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  2. "Memorial Cup results". Canwest Publishing. Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  3. "Marlie players who played with Leafs". Toronto Marlies. Archived from the original on 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  4. "1967-68 Canadian World and Olympic team roster". The Ice Hockey Annual. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  5. "Glennie Olympic records". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  6. Leonetti, Mike (2007). Maple Leafs Top 100. Raincoast Books. p. 216. ISBN 978-1-55192-808-1.
  7. Batten, Jack (1999). The Leafs. Key Porter Books. p. 148. ISBN 1-55263-205-9.
  8. Craig, Sam (2008). Ultimate Book of Hockey Lists. Transcontinental Books. ISBN 978-0-9809924-1-0.
  9. "72 Canada vs Sweden game". www.1972summitseries.com. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  10. "72 Canada vs Czechoslovakia game". www.1972summitseries.com. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  11. Jason Kay. "Ten Hockey Commercials". Hockey News. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  14. "Brian Glennie Canada Sports Hall of Fame page". Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
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