Fred Stanfield
Stanfield in 2010
Born (1944-05-04)May 4, 1944
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died September 13, 2021(2021-09-13) (aged 77)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 177 lb (80 kg; 12 st 9 lb)
Position Centre, winger
Shot Left
Played for Chicago Black Hawks
Boston Bruins
Minnesota North Stars
Buffalo Sabres
Playing career 1964–1979

Frederic William Stanfield (May 4, 1944 – September 13, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1964 until 1978. He won two Stanley Cups with the Boston Bruins, in 1970 and 1972. He was known as a clean player, as only once did he receive more than 14 penalty minutes in any season of his professional career.[1]

Early life

Stanfield was born in Toronto on May 4, 1944.[2] He had six brothers, most of whom would eventually become professional hockey players.[3] As was the practice at the time, Stanfield was signed by the Chicago Black Hawks at age 16 (as were his brothers Jim and Jack), and assigned to the junior league St. Catharines Teepees (later St. Catharines Black Hawks), their Ontario Hockey Association affiliate.[4][5]

Playing with many future NHL teammates and stars—the team's roster included Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, Roger Crozier, Chico Maki, Dennis Hull and Poul Popiel[6][7]—Stanfield played three seasons for St. Catharines. The final two seasons he led the team in scoring, and his final season, 1964, he was third in the league in scoring with 109 points,[8] as well as being awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the league's most sportsmanlike player.[9]

Playing career

Chicago Black Hawks

Called up for the 1964–65 season to the big league squad, Stanfield played the full season with Chicago, and then the next two seasons split his time between the Black Hawks and Chicago's St. Louis minor league affiliate.[3]

In May 1967, Stanfield was traded, along with Phil Esposito and Ken Hodge, to the Boston Bruins, for defenceman Gilles Marotte, centre Pit Martin, and minor league goaltender Jack Norris.[3]

Boston Bruins

The trade came to be widely regarded as one of the most one-sided deals in hockey history,[3][10][11][12] as Boston immediately became a powerhouse, moving from a last place team to a perennial power. While Esposito became a preeminent star in Boston and Hodge became a league All-Star, Stanfield centered the team's second line, with wingers John Bucyk and Johnny McKenzie—which some considered the best second line in hockey[3]—as well as playing the right point on the Bruins' feared top power play unit, helping the team to lead the league in power play goals every year between 1969 and 1972.[13] He scored 20 or more goals in every one of the six years he played for Boston,[14] with the Bruins leading the league in goals in each of those seasons.[15] He became noted for a heavy slap shot, making his mark in the first game of the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals against the St. Louis Blues when he fired a shot so hard it split Blues goaltender Jacques Plante's mask in half, giving Plante a concussion which sidelined him for the remainder of the playoffs.[16]

Stanfield's best years were between the 1971 and 1973 seasons. In 1971, he scored 76 points to finish 9th in league scoring.[17] He also received the team's 7th Player Award, voted by the fans for the player performing most beyond expectations.[18]

In the 1972 season, he scored 23 goals and 56 assists for 79 points, finishing 4th in the league in assists and 12th in the league in points,[19] and added 7 goals and 9 assists for 16 points in 15 playoff games to help the Bruins to the Stanley Cup championship. He was a leading candidate for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for the league's most sportsmanlike player, finishing behind eventual winner Jean Ratelle of the New York Rangers and teammate Johnny Bucyk.[20]

Stanfield followed up in the next season, when he scored 20 goals and 58 assists for 78 points, and was named to play in the 1973 All-Star Game as an injury replacement.[21] Stanfield finished the season 7th in the league in assists.[22]

Minnesota North Stars

Greatly depleted in goaltending by the losses of Gerry Cheevers to the World Hockey Association and Dan Bouchard to the Atlanta Flames in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft, Boston's goaltending was down to 36-year-old career minor leaguer Ross Brooks and 44-year-old late season acquisition Jacques Plante. Determined to bolster that position, new Boston general manager Harry Sinden traded Stanfield to the Minnesota North Stars for goaltender Gilles Gilbert. Shifted to the right wing for the centre-rich North Stars, he played a season and a half for Minnesota, with much reduced production.[3]

Buffalo Sabres

Mired in a slump, Stanfield was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in the middle of the 1974–75 season for journeyman Norm Gratton and Buffalo's third round choice (Ron Zanussi) in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. He quickly broke out of his slump, scoring 33 points in 32 games for the Sabres, and contributing to the team's push to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they eventually lost to the Philadelphia Flyers.[3]

Stanfield played the next three seasons for Buffalo, ending his NHL career with the team in 1978. He played the next season for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, retiring as a player partway through the season when he was named the interim coach for the team, serving through the end of the season. His last position in organized hockey was the 1980 season for the Niagara Falls Flyers of the OHA, when he was again named a mid-season replacement as head coach.[3]

Retirement and legacy

Stanfield played 914 career NHL games, scoring 211 goals and 405 assists for 616 points.[3]

Two of Stanfield's brothers, Jim Stanfield and Jack Stanfield, also played in the NHL. His youngest brother, Vic Stanfield, was a two-time All-American for Boston University.[23]

Stanfield maintained a residence in the Town of Mississauga as of 1969.[24] Stanfield lived in the Buffalo area, and owned an office furniture store. He was an active member of the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association and has organized several alumni tournaments.[25]

He died on September 13, 2021.[26]

Career statistics

Sources: [2][4]

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1961–62 St. Catharines Teepees OHA 4911152619 60002
1962–63 St. Catharines Black Hawks OHA 4828396725 —————
1963–64 St. Catharines Black Hawks OHA 56347510929 131512274
1964–65 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 577101714 142132
1965–66 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 392242 50002
1965–66 St. Louis Braves CHL 24711182 —————
1966–67 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 101010 10000
1966–67 St. Louis Braves CHL 3720214110 —————
1967–68 Boston Bruins NHL 7320446410 40110
1968–69 Boston Bruins NHL 7125295422 102240
1969–70 Boston Bruins NHL 7323355814 14412166
1970–71 Boston Bruins NHL 7524527612 73470
1971–72 Boston Bruins NHL 7823567912 1579160
1972–73 Boston Bruins NHL 7820587810 51120
1973–74 Minnesota North Stars NHL 7116284410 —————
1974–75 Minnesota North Stars NHL 408182612 —————
1974–75 Buffalo Sabres NHL 321221334 172460
1975–76 Buffalo Sabres NHL 801830484 90110
1976–77 Buffalo Sabres NHL 79914236 50000
1977–78 Buffalo Sabres NHL 5738112 —————
1978–79 Hershey Bears AHL 501941604 —————
NHL totals 914211405616134 10621355610

References

  1. ↑ Diamond, Dan, ed. (1998). Total Hockey. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 1498. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9.
  2. 1 2 "Fred Stanfield Stats". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Fred Stanfield". Legends of Hockey. Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on October 6, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Fred Stanfield Hockey Stats and Profile". HockeyDB. The Internet Hockey Database. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  5. ↑ Stubbs, Dave (September 14, 2021). "Stanfield's quiet efficiency recalled after his death". National Hockey League. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  6. ↑ "1961-62 St. Catharines Teepees roster and statistics". Internet Hockey Database. Ralph Slate. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  7. ↑ "1963-64 St. Catharines Black Hawks roster and statistics". Internet Hockey Database. Ralph Slate. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  8. ↑ "OHA 1963-64 League Leaders". Internet Hockey Database. Ralph Slate. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  9. ↑ "OHL Awards". Ontario Hockey League. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  10. ↑ Klein, Jeff Z. (June 11, 2013). "A First-Time Finals Get-Together for the Blackhawks and the Bruins". New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  11. ↑ Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. ECW Press. p. 164. ISBN 1-55022-334-8.
  12. ↑ McFarlane, Brian (1997). The Bruins:Brian McFarlane's Original Six. Stoddard Publishing Ltd. p. 111. ISBN 0-7737-3189-X.
  13. ↑ Fischler, Stan & Shirley (1983). The Hockey Encyclopedia. MacMillan Publishing Company. pp. 542–556. ISBN 0-02-538400-7.
  14. ↑ "Fred Stanfield". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  15. ↑ Fischler, Stan & Shirley (1983). The Hockey Encyclopedia. MacMillan Publishing Company. pp. 538–557. ISBN 0-02-538400-7.
  16. ↑ Jaime Bradburn (November 24, 2012). "The Ageless Wonder of Jacques Plante". Torontoist.com. St. Joseph Media. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  17. ↑ "1970-71 NHL Season Leaders". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  18. ↑ Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. ECW Press. p. 178. ISBN 1-55022-334-8.
  19. ↑ "1971-72 NHL Season Leaders". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  20. ↑ "1971–72 NHL Awards Voting". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  21. ↑ Podnieks, Andrew (2000). The NHL All-Star Game: 50 years of tradition. Toronto: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-200058-X.
  22. ↑ "1972-73 NHL Season Leaders". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Boston University Hall of Fame – Vic Stanfield". Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  24. ↑ Meeting minutes for the Town of Mississauga Council. Town of Mississauga. April 14, 1969. p. 10. Whereas only one resident of the Town of Mississauga is participating in the 1969 Stanley Cup semi-finals; therefore be it resolved that a telegram be forwarded to Fred. Stanfield of the Boston Bruins wishing him every personal continued success in this series.
  25. ↑ "Alumni Association Roster". Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association. Rob Ray. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  26. ↑ Anderson, Ty (September 14, 2021). "Fred Stanfield, two-time Stanley Cup winner with Bruins, dies at 77". 98.5 The Sports Hub. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
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