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. 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". 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.

Statistics

Season	Team	League		Regular season						Playoffs
				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.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]