Lou Fontinato

Lou Fontinato
Born (1932-01-20) January 20, 1932
Guelph, ON, CAN
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for New York Rangers
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 19541963

Louis Joseph "Leapin' Louie" Fontinato (born January 20, 1932) was a defenceman in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers from 1954 to 1961 and the Montreal Canadiens from 1961 to 1963.[1]

Fontinato's great nephew is current Florida Panther Gregg McKegg.

NHL career

Lou Fontinato was a rugged defender and the most feared enforcer of his time. He started his career with New York during the 1954-55 season. The following year, he led the NHL in penalty minutes, the highest total ever at that time.[2] He also led the league in that category in 1957-58 and 1961–62 (with Montreal). With the Rangers, Fontinato and Gordie Howe had a running feud that culminated in a fight at Madison Square Garden on February 1, 1959, in which Howe broke the nose and dislocated the jaw of "Leapin' Lou".[3] Fontinato was eventually traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Hall-of-Fame great Doug Harvey at the tail-end of his career. Fontinato's career came to an abrupt and violent end in 1963 at the Montreal Forum when he missed a check on left-winger Vic Hadfield of the Rangers behind the Montreal net, slammed head first into the boards, and became paralyzed for a month.[4]

Statistics

Season Team League Regular season Playoffs[5]
Games Goals Assists Points Penalties Games Goals Assists Points Penalties
1951-52 Guelph Biltmores OHA 48625310          
1952-53 Vancouver CanucksWHL 6531821169913412
1953-54 Vancouver CanucksWHL                    
1953-54 Saskatoon Quakers WHL 041418147601125
1954-55 Vancouver CanucksWHL                    
1954-55 Saskatoon QuakersWHL 0461055          
1954-55New York Rangers NHL2822460          
1955-56New York RangersNHL703151820240006
1956-57New York RangersNHL703121513950007
1957-58New York RangersNHL70381115260116
1958-59New York RangersNHL647613149          
1959-60New York RangersNHL6421113137          
1960-61New York RangersNHL53235100          
1961-62Montreal Canadiens NHL5421315167601123
1962-63Montreal CanadiensNHL632810141          
NHL Total53626781041,2472102242

Post-NHL experience

Fontinato currently runs a cattle operation near Eden Mills, Ontario.

Video clips

Legacy

In the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009) by Russ Cohen, John Halligan and Adam Raider, the authors ranked Fontinato No. 95 on the all-time list of New York Rangers.

Gilles Groulx's 1964 National Film Board, 30-minute documentary film Un Jeu Si Simple includes footage of Lou Fontinato including his career-ending neck injury vs. NY Rangers on March 9, 1963.

In an email interview with Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe says a fight with Lou Fontinato was the most memorable of his career. [6]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lou Fontinato.


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