Lou Fontinato

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]

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

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]
GamesGoalsAssistsPointsPenaltiesGamesGoalsAssistsPointsPenalties
1951–52Guelph BiltmoresOHA48625310—————
1952–53Vancouver CanucksWHL6531821169913412
1953–54Vancouver CanucksWHL——————————
1953–54Saskatoon QuakersWHL041418147601125
1954–55Vancouver CanucksWHL——————————
1954–55Saskatoon QuakersWHL0461055—————
1954-55New York RangersNHL2822460—————
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 CanadiensNHL5421315167601123
1962-63Montreal CanadiensNHL632810141—————
NHL Total53626781041,2472102242

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.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


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