Brian Kennedy Conacher (born August 31, 1941) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player, coach, executive and broadcaster. Conacher played 155 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

and Detroit Red Wings between 1961 and 1972, winning the Stanley Cup with Toronto in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. He later played one season in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

(WHA) with the

Ottawa Nationals The Ottawa Nationals were a professional men's ice hockey team out of Ottawa that played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) during the 1972–73 WHA season. The WHA had originally granted a franchise to Doug Michel for "Ontario." Original ...

in 1972–73. In the mid-1960s Conacher reinstated as an amateur player and joined the Canadian national team, playing at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

. He later served as a coach in the minor North American Hockey League, and general manager of both the

Indianapolis Racers The Indianapolis Racers were a major league hockey team in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1974 to 1978. They competed in four full seasons before folding 25 games into the 1978–79 season. They played at Market Square Arena. They are ...

and

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

in the WHA. He was the manager of

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

until 1998. Conacher also held the position of Chief Executive Officer of the

Royal Agricultural Winter Fair The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (RAWF), also known as The Royal, is an annual agricultural fair that is held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the first two weeks of November. It was inaugurated in 1922 in the Coliseum, on the grounds of Exhi ...

Personal information

Conacher is the son of

Lionel Conacher Lionel Pretoria Conacher, MP (; May 24, 1900 – May 26, 1954), nicknamed "The Big Train", was a Canadian athlete and politician. Voted the country's top athlete of the first half of the 20th century, he won championships in numerous sports. ...

, who was voted Canada's top athlete for the first half of the century. He was educated at Toronto's

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

. His brother, Lionel Jr., was a professional Canadian football player.

Charlie Conacher Charles William "The Big Bomber" Conacher, Sr. (December 20, 1909 – December 30, 1967) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and New York Americans in the National Hockey Leagu ...

and

Roy Conacher Roy Gordon Conacher (October 5, 1916 – December 29, 1984) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks. He was the ...

are Brian's uncles. He is the cousin of Murray Henderson and

Pete Conacher Charles William "Pete" Conacher, Jr. (born July 29, 1932) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played 229 games in the National Hockey League between 1951 and 1957. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1951 to 1966, was ...

Playing career

Conacher played on the Canadian Olympic hockey team coached by Father David Bauer at the

at Innsbruck, Austria. He was also a player for the

, playing full seasons during the

and

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

campaigns. He won the Stanley Cup with the Maple Leafs in

. In 1968, he played in the

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...

, though not as an All-Star but as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs (in those years, the current Stanley Cup Champion played the All-Star team). Brian was notable in that game as one of only two players to wear a helmet. After 1968, he was relegated, once again, to the minor leagues, until he finally finished his NHL career with a final season with the Detroit Red Wings in 1971–72. He then decided to try out the new

, joining the

for a season.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Conacher had a few small coaching stints in the minor leagues before becoming the general manager of the WHA

, and then the same position in 1977–78 with the WHA

. Conacher was also a part-time coach with Upper Canada College. Some of the students he coached became collegiate and/or professional hockey players: Syl Apps III, Jason Cipolla (played with the St. John's Maple Leafs), Andre Faust (Philadelphia Flyers), Mike McKee (Quebec Nordiques), and NHL first round pick

Daniel Tkaczuk Daniel Tkaczuk (born June 10, 1979) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former centre who played 19 games in the National Hockey League for the Calgary Flames. He is currently an assistant coach for the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hock ...

.As the Puck Turns: A Personal Journey Through the World of Hockey, by Brian Conacher, p. 206, John Wiley and Sons, Mississauga, ON, 2007,

Broadcasting career

As a broadcaster, Conacher was most notable as fellow UCC graduate

Foster Hewitt Foster William Hewitt, (November 21, 1902 – April 21, 1985) was a Canadian radio broadcaster most famous for his play-by-play calls for ''Hockey Night in Canada''. He was the son of W. A. Hewitt, and the father of Bill Hewitt. Biography ...

's colour man during the

1972 Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (russian: Суперсерия СССР — Канада, Superseriya SSSR — Kanada), or Series of the Century (french: Série du siècle, Séries of the Century), was an eight-game ic ...

. He also teamed with

Curt Gowdy Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC S ...

to call hockey for the U.S. coverage of the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label= Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conacher, Brian 1941 births Living people Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian television sportscasters Detroit Red Wings players Edmonton Oilers executives Fort Worth Wings players Ice hockey players at the 1964 Winter Olympics Mohawk Valley Comets (NAHL) players National Hockey League broadcasters North American Hockey League (1973–1977) coaches Olympic Games broadcasters Olympic ice hockey players of Canada Ottawa Nationals players Rochester Americans players Ice hockey people from Toronto Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto Marlboros players Upper Canada College alumni Western Mustangs men's ice hockey players