Brian "Blunt" Glennie (August 29, 1946 – February 7, 2020) was a Canadian 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 hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

who played 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) from

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

until

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. Glennie was a master of the hip-check.

Amateur career

Glennie was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. He had an outstanding junior career with the

Toronto Marlboros The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...

of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

, eventually captaining the team to the

1967 Memorial Cup The 1967 Memorial Cup was the 49th annual Memorial Cup competition, organized by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) to determine the champion of junior A ice hockey. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Toronto Marlboros ...

. As a PeeWee he was coached by future Toronto Maple Leafs coach

Roger Neilson Roger Paul Neilson, (June 16, 1934 – June 21, 2003) was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, most notably in the NHL, where he served with eight teams in a checkered career. Known as Captain Video because of his technological contribution ...

. 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 at Grenoble, France which won the bronze medal. This tournament was also representative of the

IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

World Championship.

Pro career

As a pro Glennie went on to play 572 career NHL games, all but 18 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 ...

, 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 Miles Gilbert "Tim" Horton (January 12, 1930 – February 21, 1974) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 24 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburg ...

Börje Salming Anders Börje Salming (; 17 April 1951 – 24 November 2022) was a Swedish ice hockey player. He was a defenceman who played professionally for 23 seasons, for the clubs Brynäs IF, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, and AIK. He spent 16 s ...

and more frequently former Marlboro teammate

Jim McKenny James Claude "Howie" McKenny (born December 1, 1946) is a Canadian retired broadcaster and retired professional ice hockey player. Playing as a defenceman, he appeared in 604 NHL regular season games between the Toronto Maple Leafs (594) and Minn ...

. 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." ''

The Hockey News ''The Hockey News'' (''THN'') is a Canadian-based ice hockey magazine. ''The Hockey News'' was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Will Cote and has since become the most recognized hockey publication in North America. The magazine has a readers ...

'' ranked Glennie #6 on their list of the best all-time body checkers. He was a member of

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics * Canada at the Paralympics * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at the Pan American Games Canada's national sport teams * Canada me ...

in 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 ...

. While he did not have the opportunity to play against the Soviet Union, Brian played in two of the games against Sweden and Czechoslovakia. He counted the experience among the greatest of his life. Glennie sustained a mild

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

in the second period of a 7–3 win over the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

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 ...

on November 5, 1975 after

Dan Maloney Daniel Charles "Snowshoes" Maloney (September 24, 1950 – November 19, 2018) was a professional ice hockey left winger in the National Hockey League (NHL) and NHL coach. Playing career Drafted 14th overall by the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1970 ...

attacked him from behind, flattened him with a right‐hand punch, hit him several more times and repeatedly lifted and dropped him to the ice. Maloney had come to the defense of teammate

Bryan Hextall Bryan Aldwyn Hextall (July 31, 1913 – July 25, 1984) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL). Considered one of the top wingers of the 1940s, he led the NHL in goal ...

who had received a hit from Glennie which was described by ''

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

'' as "a clean check." Maloney, who claimed the force of the contact was excessive and that he had no intention of injuring Glennie, was charged with

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

Attorney General of Ontario The Attorney General of Ontario is the chief legal adviser to His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario and, by extension, the Government of Ontario. The Attorney General is a senior member of the Executive Council of Ontario (the cabinet) and ...

Roy McMurtry Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

the following day on November 6. The third NHL player to ever be prosecuted by local authorities with a crime resulting from action on the ice, Maloney was

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

just under eight months later on June 30, 1976. In 1978, Glennie joined

Lanny McDonald Lanny King McDonald (born February 16, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played over 1,100 games during a 16-year c ...

in a

Swanson Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner bu ...

Hungry-Man entree commercial in which Glennie rips off the door of the refrigerator. Glennie died in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

at the age of 73 in February 2020 after years of declining health.

Honours and awards

1967 Memorial Cup (captain)
Bronze medal 1968 Winter Olympics
Inducted

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canad ...

in 2005.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Glennie, Brian 1946 births 2020 deaths Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey players at the 1968 Winter Olympics Los Angeles Kings players Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey players Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players of Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey Rochester Americans players Ice hockey people from Toronto Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto Marlboros players