Dennis O'Brien

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. 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 Regular season Playoffs 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 — — — — — 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 — — — — — 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 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 — — — — — 1974–75 Minnesota North Stars NHL 56 6 10 16 125 — — — — — 1975–76 Minnesota North Stars NHL 78 1 14 15 187 — — — — — 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 — — — — — 1977–78 Colorado Rockies NHL 16 0 2 2 12 — — — — — 1977–78 Cleveland Barons NHL 23 0 3 3 31 — — — — — 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 — — — — — 1978–79 Rochester Americans AHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1979–80 Boston Bruins NHL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1979–80 Binghamton Dusters AHL 6 2 5 7 65 — — — — — NHL totals 592 31 91 122 1017 34 1 2 3 101