Louis "Leapin' Louie" Fontinato (born January 20, 1932 in Guelph

Guelph

Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...

, 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 defenceman 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...

 with the New York Rangers

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...

 from 1954 to 1961 and the Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 from 1961 to 1963.

NHL career

Lou Fontinato was a rugged defenseman. 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. He also led the league in that category in 1957-58 and 1961–62, the latter his first year with Montreal, after being traded for Hall-of-Fame great Doug Harvey

Doug Harvey

Douglas Norman Harvey was a hockey player in the National Hockey League , considered by many to be one of the greatest defencemen to ever play the game.-Minor leagues:...

 at the tail-end of his career. Fontinato's career came to an abrupt and violent end in 1963 at the Montreal Forum

Montreal Forum

The Montreal Forum was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by Sporting News, it was home of the National Hockey League's Montreal Maroons from 1924 to 1938 and the Montreal Canadiens from 1926 to 1996...

 when he missed a check on left-winger Vic Hadfield

Vic Hadfield

Victor Edward Hadfield is a retired professional ice hockey player. One of the most popular players in New York Rangers history, Hadfield had a sixteen-year career in the NHL, tallying 323 goals and 389 assists with 1154 penalty minutes in 1002 career games with the Rangers and the Pittsburgh...

 of the Rangers behind the Montreal net, slammed head first into the boards, and became paralyzed for a month.

Statistics

Season	Team	League		Regular season						Playoffs
				Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalties		Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalties
1951-52	Guelph Biltmores	OHA Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League is one of the three Major Junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 15-20.The OHL also operates under the Ontario Hockey Federation of Hockey Canada....		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 Saskatoon Quakers The Saskatoon Quakers were an ice hockey team that was based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team existed from 1945 until 1959, and again from 1965-1971, playing in various senior and minor-professional leagues during that time. The Quakers represented Canada in 1934 World Ice Hockey...	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 1954-55 NHL season -NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes-Leading goaltenders:...	New York Rangers New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...	LNH		28	2	2	4	60
1955-56 1955-56 NHL season -NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes-Leading goaltenders:...	New York Rangers	LNH		70	3	15	18	202		4	0	0	0	6
1956-57 1956-57 NHL season -NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes-Leading goaltenders:...	New York Rangers	LNH		70	3	12	15	139		5	0	0	0	7
1957-58 1957-58 NHL season -NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes-Leading goaltenders:...	New York Rangers	LNH		70	3	8	11	152		6	0	1	1	6
1958-59 1958-59 NHL season -NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes-Leading goaltenders:...	New York Rangers	LNH		64	7	6	13	149
1959-60 1959-60 NHL season - Semifinals :Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks had led the league in scoring, but the well-oiled machine called the Montreal Canadiens managed to hold him to only one goal as the Canadiens swept the Black Hawks in four...	New York Rangers	LNH		64	2	11	13	137
1960-61 1960-61 NHL season -NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes-Leading goaltenders:...	New York Rangers	LNH		53	2	3	5	100
1961-62 1961-62 NHL season -NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes-Leading goaltenders:...	Montreal Canadiens Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...	LNH		54	2	13	15	167		6	0	1	1	23
1962-63 1962-63 NHL season -NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes-Leading goaltenders:...	Montreal Canadiens	LNH		63	2	8	10	141
NHL Total				536	26	78	104			21	0	2	2	42

Video clips

Hard hit vs Detroit

Career-ending injury, 1963

Legacy

In the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...

, 2009) by Russ Cohen

Russ Cohen

-External links:...

, John Halligan

John Halligan (ice hockey)

John Halligan, former New York Rangers public relations director and NHL executive, died Wednesay, January 20, 2010, at the age of 68.. The cause of death was not disclosed....

 and Adam Raider, the authors ranked Fontinato No. 95 on the all-time list of New York Rangers.

Gilles Groulx

Gilles Groulx

Gilles Groulx was a Canadian film director. He grew up in a working-class family with 14 children. After studying business in school, he went to work in an office but found the white-collar environment too stultifying...

'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.

External links