Lou Fontinato

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Lou Fontinato
Born (1932-01-20)January 20, 1932
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Died July 3, 2016(2016-07-03) (aged 84)
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
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 (January 20, 1932 – July 3, 2016) was a Canadian 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 Greg McKegg, who currently plays for the New York Rangers.

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. Fontinato became the first player in league history to record over 200 minutes in penalties in a season.[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]

Career 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 later ran a cattle operation near Eden Mills, Ontario. He died in Guelph, Ontario on July 3, 2016.[6][7]

Video clips

Legacy

In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Fontinato at No. 95 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.[8]

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. [9]

References

  1. ^ "Lou Fontinato's player profile". Legends of Hockey.net. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  2. ^ http://www.hockeydb.com/
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-02-12. Retrieved 2013-04-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link).
  4. ^ http://www.legendsofhockey.net.
  5. ^ Career stats http://www.hockeydb.com.
  6. ^ Forbed, Andrew (July 6, 2016). "Former NHL Defenceman Lou Fontinato Passes Away". thehockeynews.com. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  7. ^ Saxon, Tony (July 5, 2016). "Guelph mourns loss of 'Leapin' Louie from The Ward". guelphtoday.com. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  8. ^ Cohen, Russ; Halligan, John; Raider, Adam (2009). 100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0470736197. Retrieved 2020-02-03.
  9. ^ Gretzky - Howe interview - BarDown

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lou Fontinato.


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