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.

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

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

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 and Czechoslovakia. He counted the experience among the greatest of his life.

Glennie sustained a mild concussion in the second period of a 7–3 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Maple Leaf Gardens on November 5, 1975 after Dan Maloney 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 who had received a hit from Glennie which was described by ''The Associated Press'' 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 by Attorney General of Ontario Roy McMurtry 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 just under eight months later on June 30, 1976.

In 1978, Glennie joined Lanny McDonald in a Swanson Hungry-Man entree commercial in which Glennie rips off the door of the refrigerator. Glennie died in Ottawa 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 in 2005.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

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{{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