Brian Paul Engblom (born January 27, 1955) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

broadcaster for the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

, and a former professional hockey

defenseman 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 ...

Biography

Engblom was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, and played for the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. He was drafted 22nd overall by the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in the

1975 NHL Entry Draft The 1975 NHL Amateur Draft was the 13th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the NHL office in Montreal, Quebec. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers made the most noise at the draft, trading Bill Clement, Don McLean, and t ...

. He played his first two professional seasons with Montreal's AHL affiliate Nova Scotia Voyageurs before playing in his first

NHL 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 ...

game in the 1977 Stanley Cup playoffs with Montreal. He won two

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

s, in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, and

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 ...

with the Canadiens. Engblom's name was left off the Cup in 1977 because he played no regular season games. He played in two playoff games and did not play in the finals. In 1982, while Engblom was establishing himself as a top NHL defenseman, he was involved in a blockbuster trade that saw him,

Doug Jarvis Douglas McArthur Jarvis (born March 24, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals and Hartford Whalers in the National Hockey League. He was a four-time Stanley Cup win ...

Rod Langway Rodney Cory Langway (born May 3, 1957) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played for the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL) and Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Associatio ...

and

Craig Laughlin Craig Alan Laughlin (born September 14, 1957) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right wing, who currently serves as the color analyst for the Washington Capitals on NBC Sports Washington. He played in the National Hockey League with the ...

dealt to the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

in exchange for Rick Green and

Ryan Walter Ryan William Walter (born April 23, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League. He was also an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks, head coach of the Canadian National Wo ...

. A season later, he was dealt with

Ken Houston Kenneth Ray Houston (born November 12, 1944) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1 ...

to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for future Hall Of Famer Larry Murphy. He finished his career with stints for the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

, and

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

. Engblom's final NHL season of 1986–87 ended prematurely due to bone spurs in his spinal column that required major surgery to repair. In 11 seasons, Engblom scored 29 goals and 177 assists.

Broadcasting career

Engblom was an NHL studio analyst and

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and ''

NHL on ABC The ''NHL on ABC'' is an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by ESPN on ABC (formerly known as ABC Sports), and televised on ABC in the United States. The network first broadcast NHL games during the 1993 Stan ...

'' from 1993 to 2004, and also worked for NBC after they acquired NHL TV rights in 2004. During the 2005-06 season, he was color analyst for

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

games aired on

Fox Sports Ohio Bally Sports Ohio is an American regional sports network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and is operated as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events in the state of Ohio, with a focus on professio ...

. Currently, he works as a color analyst for the

on Sun Sports, and NHL telecasts for the NBC Sports Network. Engblom has also provided post-game analysis for the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

on Altitude Sports and Entertainment, in rotation with

Mark Rycroft Mark A. Rycroft (born July 12, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche. Rycroft is currently a TV studio analyst for Altitude Spor ...

. Engblom joined the

for the 2015-16 season as color analyst alongside

Rick Peckham Rick Peckham (born March 1955) is the retired play-by-play broadcaster for the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team. Previously, Peckham had served as the play-by-play announcer for the Hartford Whalers from 1984 through 1995. He has also broa ...

, and later with Dave Randorf, replacing Bobby Taylor, who moved to studio host.

Awards and honours

plus-minus leader (+63) (

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

) *"Honoured Member" of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engblom, Brian 1955 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Buffalo Sabres players Calgary Flames players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian people of Swedish descent Colorado Avalanche announcers Ice hockey people from Manitoba Los Angeles Kings players Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players National Hockey League broadcasters Nova Scotia Voyageurs players Sportspeople from Winnipeg Stanley Cup champions Washington Capitals players Winnipeg Jets (WHA) draft picks Winnipeg Jets announcers Winnipeg Monarchs players Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey players