Lou Fontinato

Lou Fontinato
Born	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	1954–1963

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		48	6	25	31	0
1952-53	Vancouver Canucks	WHL		65	3	18	21	169		9	1	3	4	12
1953-54	Vancouver Canucks	WHL
1953-54	Saskatoon Quakers	WHL		0	4	14	18	147		6	0	1	1	25
1954-55	Vancouver Canucks	WHL
1954-55	Saskatoon Quakers	WHL		0	4	6	10	55
1954-55	New York Rangers	NHL		28	2	2	4	60
1955-56	New York Rangers	NHL		70	3	15	18	202		4	0	0	0	6
1956-57	New York Rangers	NHL		70	3	12	15	139		5	0	0	0	7
1957-58	New York Rangers	NHL		70	3	8	11	152		6	0	1	1	6
1958-59	New York Rangers	NHL		64	7	6	13	149
1959-60	New York Rangers	NHL		64	2	11	13	137
1960-61	New York Rangers	NHL		53	2	3	5	100
1961-62	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		54	2	13	15	167		6	0	1	1	23
1962-63	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		63	2	8	10	141
NHL Total				536	26	78	104	1,247		21	0	2	2	42

Post-NHL experience

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

Video clips

• Hard hit vs Detroit on YouTube
• Career-ending injury, 1963 on YouTube

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

1. "Lou Fontinato's player profile". Legends of Hockey.net. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
2. http://www.hockeydb.com/
3. .
4. http://www.legendsofhockey.net.
5. Career stats http://www.hockeydb.com.
6. Gretzky - Howe interview - BarDown

External links

• Lou Fontinato's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database