Dennis Francis O'Brien (born 10 June 1949 in Port Hope

Port Hope, Ontario

Port Hope is a municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, about east of Toronto and about west of Kingston. It is located at the mouth of the Ganaraska River on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in the west end of Northumberland County...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

) was a professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 player in the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

.

Playing career

Dennis O'Brien was selected by the Minnesota North Stars

Minnesota North Stars

The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...

 in the second round, 14th overall, in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft

1969 NHL Amateur Draft

The 1969 NHL Amateur Draft was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This draft is notable for being the first NHL draft to be conducted after the league ended direct sponsorship of junior hockey.-Selections by round:...

. He played for the North Stars for almost his entire 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

Colorado Rockies (NHL)

The Colorado Rockies were an American professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League that played in Denver, Colorado, from 1976 to 1982. They were a relocation of the Kansas City Scouts, a 1974 expansion team. The franchise moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1982 and was...

. After 16 games with the Rockies, he was traded to the Cleveland Barons

Cleveland Barons (NHL)

The Cleveland Barons were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League from 1976–78. They were a relocation of the California Golden Seals franchise, which had played in Oakland since 1967...

 and after 23 games as a Baron, he was traded to his fourth team of the season, the Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

, 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

Dave McLlwain

David Allan McLlwain is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. McLlwain is best known for playing for a record four National Hockey League teams in one season during the 1991–92 season...

 in 1991–92.

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

Dennis O'Brien is the uncle of current Colorado Avalanche defenceman Shane O'Brien.