Brian Conacher

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Brian Conacher

Brian Conacher (born August 31, 1941, in Toronto, Ontario) was an NHL hockey player and hockey broadcaster, specializing in colour commentary. He is the son of the legendary Lionel Conacher, who was voted Canada's top athlete for the first half of the century.^{[citation needed]} He was educated at Toronto's Upper Canada College.

Conacher played on the Canadian Olympic hockey team at the 1964 Winter Olympics. He was also a player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, playing full seasons during the 1967 and 1968 campaigns. He won the Stanley Cup with the Maple Leafs in 1967. In 1968 he played in the NHL All-Star Game, though not as an All-Star but as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs (in those years, the current Stanley Cup Champion played the All-Star team). Brian was notable in that game as one of only two players to wear a helmet. After 1968, he was relegated, once again, to the minor leagues, until he finally finished his NHL career with a final season with the Detroit Red Wings in 1971-72. He then decided to try out the new World Hockey Association, joining the Ottawa Nationals for a season.

After retiring as a player he had a few small coaching stints in the minor leagues before becoming the general manager of the WHA Indianapolis Racers, and then the same position in 1977-78 with the WHA Edmonton Oilers. In 2007 it was announced that the new Upper Canada College arena complex, to be completed in 2009, would be named after Brian and his family.^[1]

As a broadcaster, Brian was most notable as fellow UCC graduate Foster Hewitt's colour man during the 1972 Summit Series.

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