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Reg Fleming: Tough Guy of the 1960’s

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reg fleming 1961-62 topps rookie hockey cardIn the 1960’s, there were few tougher than Reg Fleming. He led the National Hockey League in penalty minutes one season and was among the top ten for PIM in nine other years.

After a few years of junior with the Montreal Junior Canadiens and St. Michael’s Majors, Fleming turned pro in 1956-57 and carried on until 1976-77. Reg appeared in the QHL, AHL, EPHL, NHL, WHL, WHA, IHL and USHL. He also spent time in the mostly amateur Continental Hockey League in 1977-78.

Fleming’s NHL career spanned from 1959-60 to 1970-71, playing 749 regular season games with the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres. He sat 1,468 minutes in the penalty box, big numbers for the era. However, Reg also scored 108 and assisted on 132 for 240 points. Fleming also appeared in 50 Stanley Cup playoff games, contributing nine points and sitting 106 minutes in the sin bin.


Reg Fleming Collection

 



 



 



 

 


Glory came early with Reg winning a Stanley Cup championship with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1960-61. That year, he found himself among the penalty leaders for the first time. Reg finished second in the NHL behind just Chicago teammate Pierre Pilote.


By 1965-66, the Stanley Cup had greatly distanced itself from Fleming. He started the year with the fifth place Boston Bruins and was traded after 34 games to the last place New York Rangers. He played an additional 35 games with New York. Boston finished with 48 points while the Rangers tied up the basement with 47. Boston was 26 points behind the fourth place Detroit Red Wings in the six team league. Reg led the league in PIM with 166 over his 69 games, 13 minutes ahead of John Ferguson of the Montreal Canadiens.

From 1960-61 to 1970-71, Fleming was outside the top ten for penalties in just 1961-62. He finished second in 1966-67 as a member of the Rangers, behind only Ferguson from Montreal.

Even in his final year in the National Hockey League, Fleming placed tenth in the league with 159 minutes as a member of the expansion Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo took Reg 15th overall at the 1970 Expansion Draft. He played all 78 regular season games for the Sabres.

Fleming’s last shot at glory fell just short with the Saginaw Gears of the IHL in 1974-75. After playing just nine games for the club during the regular season, Reg scored eight and assisted on 13 for 21 points over 17 playoff games as the Gears marched to the finals. Saginaw met the Toledo Goaldiggers and the series went seven games with each team scoring 35 goals. However, Toledo came out on top, four wins to three. Interestingly, the goaltending duo for Saginaw was Mike Palmateer and Mario Lessard, both destined for the NHL.

Fleming passed away in 2009 while recovering from a stroke and heart attack.

Reg Fleming – Rookie Card

The Reg Fleming rookie card appears as number 26 in the 1961-62 Topps set. The card is rated as a common card. However, the Fleming hockey card has been seen for upwards of $80 on eBay.

 

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM
1953-54 Montreal Junior Canadiens QPJHL 48 7 7 14 47
1954-55 Montreal Junior Canadiens QPJHL 44 3 11 14 139
1955-56 Toronto St. Michael’s OHA 42 1 8 9 93
1956-57 Shawinigan Falls Cataracts QHL 61 2 9 11 109
1957-58 Shawinigan Falls Cataracts QHL 51 6 15 21 227
1958-59 Rochester Americans AHL 70 6 16 22 112
1959-60 Kingston Frontenacs EPHL 52 19 49 68 91
1959-60 Rochester Americans AHL 9 1 5 6 4
1959-60 Montreal Canadiens NHL 3 0 0 0 2
1960-61 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 66 4 4 8 145
1961-62 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 70 7 9 16 71
1962-63 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 64 7 7 14 99
1963-64 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 61 3 6 9 140
1964-65 Boston Bruins NHL 67 18 23 41 136
1965-66 Boston Bruins NHL 34 4 6 10 42
1965-66 New York Rangers NHL 35 10 14 24 124
1966-67 New York Rangers NHL 61 15 16 31 146
1967-68 New York Rangers NHL 73 17 7 24 132
1968-69 New York Rangers NHL 72 8 12 20 138
1969-70 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 65 9 18 27 134
1970-71 Buffalo Sabres NHL 78 6 10 16 159
1971-72 Cincinnati Swords AHL 11 3 5 8 62
1971-72 Salt Lake Golden Eagles WHL 56 20 28 48 134
1972-73 Chicago Cougars WHA 75 23 45 68 93
1973-74 Chicago Cougars WHA 45 2 12 14 49
1974-75 Saginaw Gears IHL 9 1 6 7 14
NHL Totals 749 108 132 240 1468
WHA Totals 119 25 57 82 144

 

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