Introduction
Brian "Blunt" Glennie (born August 29, 1946 in Toronto, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the NHL from 1969 until 1979. Glennie was a master of the hip-check.
Amateur career
Glennie 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 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 team-mate 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.
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
| 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 | Toronto Marlboros | OHA-Jr. | 43 | 5 | 39 | 44 | 113 | 17 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 44 | ||
| 1966–67 | Toronto Marlboros | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 18 | ||
| 1967–68 | Ottawa Nationals | OHA-Sr. | 30 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Canada | Nat-Tm | 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 |