Lou Fontinato

Louis Joseph "Leapin' Louie" Fontinato (January 20, 1932 – July 3, 2016) was a Canadian defenceman who played in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers from 1954 to 1961 and the Montreal Canadiens from 1961 to 1963. A rugged defender, he was the most feared enforcer of his time. Fontinato began his career with New York during the 1954-55 season, and the following year he led the NHL in penalty minutes, becoming the first player in league history to record more than 200 penalty minutes in a single season. He again led the league in that category in 1957-58 and, with Montreal, in 1961-62. While with the Rangers, Fontinato carried on a running feud with Gordie Howe that culminated in a fight at Madison Square Garden on February 1, 1959, in which Howe broke his nose and dislocated his jaw. Fontinato was later traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Hall-of-Fame defenceman Doug Harvey near the end of his career. His playing days came to an abrupt and violent end in 1963 at the Montreal Forum, when he missed a check on Rangers left-winger Vic Hadfield behind the Montreal net, slammed head first into the boards, and was left paralyzed for a month.