Eric on The Road

Journeys into the offbeat, off the beaten path, overlooked and forgotten - by Eric Model

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Passing: Reggie Fleming, Gritty NHLer of the 1960's (Chicago Tribune)

From The Chicago Tribune:

By Fred Mitchell | Tribune staff reporter
July 12, 2009

Reggie Fleming, one of the National Hockey League’s toughest players in the 1960s, died Saturday (July 11) in a suburban Chicago hospital. He was 73.

He was a fan favorite in the cities where he played, including six in the N.H.L. Although renowned for his willingness and ability to fight, Fleming was also versatile enough to be used as a defenseman and as a forward, shutting down star players on the other team.

Fleming spent 12 full seasons in the N.H.L. from 1960 to 1971, playing 749 games, scoring 108 goals and compiling 1,468 penalty minutes. During his stint with the Rangers from 1966 through 1970, he spent so much time in the Madison Square Garden penalty box, he told John Halligan, the team’s longtime public-relations director, that “I got my mail delivered there.”

Fleming also played for Montreal, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Buffalo in the N.H.L., for Chicago in the World Hockey Association and for several minor league teams before retiring at 41.

Fleming was confined to bed during the last five years because of complications arising from a stroke. His son posted several videos on YouTube in which his father reminisced about his life from his hospital bed.

"I wanted people to see another side of a famous hockey player, a ruffian," he said. "And I wanted people to see what happens sometimes to celebrities and athletes in their later days when they go through these trials and tribulations. I wanted people to see how they fight it and that we are all human.

And I wanted people to see that just because someone is dying, basically, or sick ... it doesn't mean you just write them off. Those could be the greatest memories you ever have. And they actually were for me because we got to talk about things we never talked about before."


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4STfe5Hbgc).

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/chi-12-reggie-fleming-blackhawks-webjul12,0,1866138.story?page=2

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