Saskatoon native Ed Van Impe played professional hockey from 1961 to 1977. A member of the NHL’s Chicago Black Hawks, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins, the tough defenseman’s determination and grit paved the way for a lasting impact on NHL history.
Van Impe was a member of an elite fraternity of players who wore the captain’s “C” for the Flyers. Having been the second man to be named captain of the team, he is one of 18 players to date who have received this honor since the franchise’s inaugural 1967-68 season. The Broad Street Bully is in good company on this list, joining several NHL stars such as Bobby Clarke, Dave Poulin, Eric Lindros, and Claude Giroux who also served as team captains.
Buffalo Bisons
Van Impe was inspired to become a blueliner by his childhood idol, Hockey Hall of Famer Doug Harvey, a veteran of 19 NHL seasons. After spending a few seasons in junior, most of which were with his hometown Saskatoon Quakers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), he was signed by the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Van Impe spent five seasons in Buffalo, appearing in 347 regular-season games. During his time with the Bisons, he recorded 108 points and 911 penalty minutes. He was a member of the 1962-63 Bisons’ Calder Cup champion team. That season, he recorded 15 points (three goals and 12 assists) and 196 penalty minutes in 65 regular-season games. Van Impe’s teammates that season included John McKenzie, Doug Jarrett, Roger Crozier, and Denis DeJordy who saw significant time in the NHL during their respective careers.
Chicago Black Hawks
Van Impe broke into the NHL with the Black Hawks during the 1966-67 season. In his rookie campaign, he recorded 19 points (eight goals and 11 assists) in 61 games. The Black Hawks finished the season in first place with a record of 41 wins, 17 losses, and 12 ties, and were considered heavy favorites to win their second Stanley Cup of the decade. Unfortunately, their dreams of capturing another championship in the 1960s were cut short by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the semifinals. Van Impe’s outstanding play that season put him right behind rookie of the year winner Bobby Orr in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy. Orr ended his rookie season with an outstanding 41 points for the Boston Bruins.
Philadelphia Flyers
Left unprotected by the Black Hawks, Van Impe was claimed in the Jun. 6, 1967 Expansion Draft by the Flyers. This was the beginning of a nine-season stretch with Philadelphia that lasted from 1967 to 1976. During his first season with the team, he was considered one of their top defensive blueliners. Along with his 141 penalty minutes, the rugged defenseman contributed 17 points to the offense, scoring four goals and 13 assists. With the departure of the Flyers’ first team captain, Lou Angotti, following the 1967-68 season, Van Impe was named captain. He wore the “C” until 1973 when he voluntarily passed the torch to the Flyers’ young star Bobby Clarke.
The 1968-69 season marked the first of Van Impe’s three career NHL All-Star Game appearances. The next two appearances came during the 1973-74 and 1974-75 campaigns. These seasons were especially notable because they marked the first and second Stanley Cup championship seasons in franchise history. In the 1974 Stanley Cup Final, the Flyers defeated the heavily favored Bruins in six games (4-2). During the regular season, Van Impe scored two goals, 16 assists, and recorded 119 penalty minutes. He complemented these totals with another goal, two assists, and 41 penalty minutes in 17 playoff games on the way to the city’s first championship in professional hockey.
The following season, he matched his point total from the previous season, 18, and recorded 109 penalty minutes in 78 regular-season games. In 17 playoff appearances, he tallied four assists and 28 penalty minutes on the way to a Stanley Cup Final victory over the Buffalo Sabres in six games.
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During the Jan. 11, 1976, Flyers-Red Army (HC CSKA Moscow) game at the Spectrum, Van Impe delivered such a powerful body check on HC CSKA Moscow (CKSA) star player Valeri Kharlamov that the forward lay prone on the ice for a minute. When officials did not call a penalty on the play, Red Army coach Konstantin Loktev pulled his team off of the ice in protest. According to some eyewitnesses, Flyers owner Ed Snider coerced the Soviet Union squad back onto the ice by threats of not being compensated for their appearance in Philadelphia. The Flyers went on to win the game 4-1, securing their place as the only NHL franchise to defeat the Red Army team that season.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Van Impe’s tenure with the Flyers came to an end on Mar. 9, 1976, when he was traded with goaltender Bobby Taylor to the Penguins for goaltender Gary Inness, draft picks, and cash. A shoulder injury cut his time with the Penguins short, and ultimately led to his retirement the following season. In two seasons with Pittsburgh, he appeared in only 22 games, recording eight points before retiring in 1977 at 36 years old.
Vam Impe Post-Playing Career Honors
Van Impe is remembered by countless hockey fans and insiders as a gritty defenseman who excelled at blocking shots and stifling offensive rushes on his team’s net. Sixteen years after he retired from hockey, he received the first of two post-playing career honors. In April 1993, he joined former franchise president Joe Scott in the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame. He later joined the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019 in a class that also included fellow NHL greats Bert Olmstead, Fernie Flaman, Keith Magnuson, Curtis Leschyshyn, and Brian Skrudland. The 11-season veteran of the NHL has also been featured in articles, books, podcasts, and documentaries for his role as an original Flyer and Broad Street Bully.