Like the lineman in football, the penalty killer and star shadow in hockey gets no credit. Ed Westfall was that guy and played a major role in the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972. As luck would have it, Westfall retired the year before the New York Islanders made their run of four consecutive Stanley Cups.
Ed Westfall
Westfall played four years of junior hockey in the OHA from 1957-58 to 1960-61. All four years were with the same franchise but the team relocated for his final season. He started out with the Barrie Flyers and for 1960-61, he moved south with the team when they became the Niagara Falls Flyers.
His best season of junior hockey was his last. In 1960-61, Eddie scored nine goals and assisted on 45 for 54 points over 48 regular season games with Niagara Falls. He placed fifth in the OHA in assists, 16 behind league leader Jean Ratelle of the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters and four behind fourth place Rod Gilbert, also of the Biltmores.
Westfall’s National Hockey League career spanned from 1961-62 to 1978-79 with the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders. He played 1,226 regular season games and is ranked 85th all-time for most games played in a career. He was 84th before the 2013-14 season started but has since been passed by Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils.
Over his career, Ed scored 231 goals and assisted on 394 for 625 points. He played an additional 95 games in the playoffs, adding 59 points. Westfall has his name on the Stanley Cup twice, winning with the Bruins in 1969-70 and 1971-72.
The New York Islanders selected Westfall ninth overall at the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft with the Islanders and Atlanta Flames stocking brand new teams. Ahead of him, New York picked goaltenders Gerry Desjardins and Billy Smith, along with skaters Bart Crashley and Dave Hudson. Smith worked out quite well.
Ed Westfall Collection
Eddie was the first team captain in Islanders history. He wore the ‘C’ from 1972-73 to 1976-77 before handing over the duties to Clark Gillies for the 1977-78 season. He is in the books for scoring the first goal in Islanders history. On Saturday, October 7, 1972, New York faced off at home against their expansion partners Atlanta. The Islanders lost the game 3-2 but Westfall scored the team’s first goal.
Although he missed out on the dynasty on Long Island, he led the team to near glory in 1974-75. It was just the Islanders third year in the National Hockey League and Westfall placed fourth on the team in scoring behind Denis Potvin, Billy Harris and Bob Nystrom.
The Islanders reached the semi-finals against the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers went up 3-0 in the series before New York roared back with three wins of their own. Philadelphia ultimately came out ahead with a victory in game seven. The Broad Street Bullies then went on to capture their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship with a victory over the Buffalo Sabres in six in the finals.
Ed Westfall – Rookie Card
The Ed Westfall rookie card appears as number 8 in the 1963-64 Topps set and is valued at around three times the value of a common card. He is part of a four player rookie class, all with RC’s roughly the same value. The other three include Ed Johnston, Ed Van Impe and Gilles Villemure. The top cards in the 1963-64 set belong to Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks and Jacques Plante of the New York Rangers.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1957-58 | Barrie Flyers | OHA | 51 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 60 |
| 1958-59 | Barrie Flyers | OHA | 54 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 63 |
| 1959-60 | Barrie Flyers | OHA | 48 | 7 | 28 | 35 | 63 |
| 1959-60 | Kingston Frontenacs | EPHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1960-61 | Kingston Frontenacs | EPHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1960-61 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 48 | 9 | 45 | 54 | 72 |
| 1961-62 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 63 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 53 |
| 1962-63 | Kingston Frontenacs | EPHL | 21 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 14 |
| 1962-63 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 34 |
| 1963-64 | Providence Reds | AHL | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 1963-64 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 55 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 35 |
| 1964-65 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 68 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 65 |
| 1965-66 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 59 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 42 |
| 1966-67 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 70 | 12 | 24 | 36 | 26 |
| 1967-68 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 73 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 38 |
| 1968-69 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 70 | 18 | 24 | 42 | 22 |
| 1969-70 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 72 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 28 |
| 1970-71 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 78 | 25 | 34 | 59 | 48 |
| 1971-72 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 77 | 18 | 26 | 44 | 19 |
| 1972-73 | New York Islanders | NHL | 67 | 15 | 31 | 46 | 25 |
| 1973-74 | New York Islanders | NHL | 68 | 19 | 23 | 42 | 28 |
| 1974-75 | New York Islanders | NHL | 73 | 22 | 33 | 55 | 28 |
| 1975-76 | New York Islanders | NHL | 80 | 25 | 31 | 56 | 27 |
| 1976-77 | New York Islanders | NHL | 79 | 14 | 33 | 47 | 8 |
| 1977-78 | New York Islanders | NHL | 71 | 5 | 19 | 24 | 14 |
| 1978-79 | New York Islanders | NHL | 55 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 4 |
| NHL Totals | 1226 | 231 | 394 | 625 | 544 |