Dennis O'Brien (ice hockey)

{{Infobox Ice Hockey Player

| name= Dennis O'Brien

| image= Dennis-o-brien.jpg

| played_for = Minnesota North Stars
Colorado Rockies
Cleveland Barons
Boston Bruins

| position = Defence

| shoots = Left

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 0

| weight_lb = 195

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|06|10|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Port Hope, Ontario, Canada

| draft = 14th overall

| draft_year = 1969

| draft_team = Minnesota North Stars

| career_start = 1969

| career_end = 1980

}}

Dennis Francis O'Brien (born 10 June 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He featured in the 1978 Stanley Cup Finals with the Boston Bruins.

O'Brien is the uncle of former NHL player Shane O'Brien.

Playing career

O'Brien was selected by the Minnesota North Stars in the second round, 14th overall, of the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft, and played for the North Stars for the majority of his career, from 1970–71 to 1977–78. During his final season with the North Stars, he played just 13 games before being traded to the Colorado Rockies. After 16 games with the Rockies, he was traded to the Cleveland Barons and after 23 games as a Baron, he was traded to his fourth team of the season, the Boston Bruins, where he played 16 games. The final trade to the Bruins broke an NHL record for the most teams played for in one season.{{cite book|last=Weekes|first=Don|title=The Best and Worst of Hockey's Firsts: The Unofficial Guide|year=2003|publisher=Greystone Books|location=Canada|isbn=9781550548600|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bestworstofhocke0000week/page/n243 240]|url=https://archive.org/details/bestworstofhocke0000week|url-access=registration}} That record has since been equalled by Dave McLlwain in 1991–92, Mark Arcobello in 2014–15 and Jussi Jokinen in 2017–18.

After that busy season, O'Brien played parts of two more seasons in the NHL, both for the Bruins.

Career statistics

BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="0" width="75%" style="text-align:center"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" \| ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" \| ! colspan="5" \| Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" \| ! colspan="5" \| Playoffs
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM
1968–69 \| St. Catharines Black Hawks \| OHA \| 52	1	19	20	235 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1969–70 \| Iowa Stars \| CHL \| 72	2	18	20	331 \| 11	0	2	2	30
1970–71 \| Cleveland Barons \| AHL \| 27	1	6	7	100 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1970–71 \| Minnesota North Stars \| NHL \| 27	3	2	5	29 \| 9	0	0	0	20
1971–72 \| Minnesota North Stars \| NHL \| 70	3	6	9	108 \| 3	0	1	1	11
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1972–73 \| Minnesota North Stars \| NHL \| 74	3	11	14	75 \| 6	1	0	1	38
1973–74 \| Minnesota North Stars \| NHL \| 77	5	12	17	166 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1974–75 \| Minnesota North Stars \| NHL \| 56	6	10	16	125 \| —	—	—	—	—
1975–76 \| Minnesota North Stars \| NHL \| 78	1	14	15	187 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1976–77 \| Minnesota North Stars \| NHL \| 75	6	18	24	114 \| 2	0	0	0	4
1977–78 \| Minnesota North Stars \| NHL \| 13	0	2	2	32 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1977–78 \| Colorado Rockies \| NHL \| 16	0	2	2	12 \| —	—	—	—	—
1977–78 \| Cleveland Barons \| NHL \| 23	0	3	3	31 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1977–78 \| Boston Bruins \| NHL \| 16	2	3	5	29 \| 14	0	1	1	28
1978–79 \| Boston Bruins \| NHL \| 64	2	8	10	107 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1978–79 \| Rochester Americans \| AHL \| 2	0	0	0	2 \| —	—	—	—	—
1979–80 \| Boston Bruins \| NHL \| 3	0	0	0	2 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1979–80 \| Binghamton Dusters \| AHL \| 6	2	5	7	65 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| NHL totals ! 592 !! 31 !! 91 !! 122 !! 1017 ! 34 !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 101