A Look At Brian Engblom: Part One

Winnipeg's Brian Engblom was on three Stanley Cup winning Montreal Canadiens teams in the late 1970s.

Brian Engblom was a strong classic defenseman that had a solid eleven season career in the National Hockey League. He is perhaps most notable for being a part of the Montreal Canadiens dynasty in the 1970’s, playing on three Stanley Cup winning teams (1977, 1978, 1979).

The 6’2’’, 200-pound defender grew up in the Fort Garry neighbourhood of Winnipeg and spent a couple of seasons playing at the University of Wisconsin before turning pro in the Montreal Canadiens farm system. He struggled to make it to the big leagues initially because of the great depth the Habs possessed in the NHL with the likes of Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard manning the blueline.

Engblom thrived in the minors, winning the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s Most Outstanding Defenseman, and was named to the AHL First All-Star Team in 1977. Montreal eventually called up Brian to the show and he made his NHL debut in the 1977 Stanley Cup playoffs.

After winning Stanley Cup’s in each of his first three NHL seasons, Engblom started to come into his own and became one of the league’s premier defenseman with the Habs in the early 1980’s. He was the NHL’s plus-minus leader (+63) in 1981 and was named an NHL Second Team All-Star in 1982.

Engblom later skated for Team Canada at the 1981 Canada Cup and the 1983 World Championships. He closed out his career with stops in Washington, Los Angeles, Buffalo and Calgary. When Brian retired from hockey due to injury in 1987, he finished with 29 goals and 177 assists for 206 points in 659 NHL games.

Engblom has stayed in the game of hockey as an NHL studio analyst and colour commentator for many different teams over the last thirty-plus years including the Winnipeg Jets when they returned to town in 2011. When I interviewed Brian, it was during an off night for the Tampa Bay Lightning that he currently commentates for. Talking with Brian, he’s just a great person to talk to and was very candid when telling stories about his career. Enjoy!