Bronco Horvath

Bronco Joseph Horvath (March 12, 1930 – December 17, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 434 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1968.

Early life Horvath was born to an ethnic Hungarian family that emigrated from Transcarpathia after the end of World War I, when it became part of Czechoslovakia.

He was also a standout baseball player growing up which led to him getting a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Career Horvath was signed by the Detroit Red Wings as an amateur. On August 18, 1955, the Red Wings traded Horvath and Dave Creighton to the New York Rangers in exchange for Aggie Kukulowicz and Billy Dea. In 1954-55 Horvath played for the Edmonton Flyers of the WHL, that year he led the lead in scoring with 110 points in 67 games, Helping the team win the league championship. He was voted a First Team AHL All-Star during the 1956-57 after leading the Rochester Americans with 81 points in just 56 games played.

Horvath is perhaps best remembered for his time playing on the famous "Uke Line" with the Boston Bruins, with Ukrainian-Canadians Johnny Bucyk and Vic Stasiuk. Horvath missed out on the Art Ross Trophy in 1959–60 by a single point to Bobby Hull, however he tied with Hull for the goal-scoring lead, with 39. That year he was named a to the Second All-Star team and played in that years all star game. He made the All Star game again the following year in 1960-61. He played for five of the Original Six teams in the NHL (only missing Detroit), He did apprentice with the Edmonton Flyers, Detroit's WHL farm team, along with John Bucyk and Vic Stasiuk, his future Uke Linemates. He was demoted to the minors in 1963. Bucyk described Horvath stating "Bronco was the centerman for myself and Vic, the goal-scorer, and he could really shoot that puck," "He'd position himself and he had a quick release that would surprise a lot of goaltenders.” “Bronco was a character, too," "In the dressing room and out of the room, he was just a terrific person.

He played most of the next six seasons with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League (AHL). He was among the league's scoring leaders for several seasons. With his best statistical season coming in 1964-65 when he scored 106 points (38 goals 68 assists) in 72 games. As he led the team to a Calder cup victory over the Hershey Bears 4 games to 1. He would help the team claim the Calder cup two more times in 1965–66 and 1967–68. He was a great player maker who had a soft touch when the puck was on his stick.

With the increased demand for players with the NHL expansion in 1967, Horvath found himself back in the league with the Minnesota North Stars. At mid-season of that year he returned to the Rochester Americans and helped lead them to the championship. He would finish his career with Rochester and ultimately retired from playing in 1970. Horvath continued to produce until the very end of his career, and finished his AHL career with 263 goals and 484 assists for 747 points in 666 regular-season games. He recorded 542 of those points with the Rochester Americans ranking third all-time in franchise scoring. Horvath was inducted as a charter member of the Rochester Americans Hall of Fame in 1986.

He died on December 17, 2019, in Hyannis, Massachusetts. He survived by his second wife Shelly, his son Mark, four great grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1948–49 Galt Black Hawks OHA-Jr. 33 22 18 40 45 — — — — — 1949–50 Galt Red Wings OHA-Jr. 47 20 33 53 91 — — — — — 1949–50 Grand Rapids Rockets EAHL 5 6 1 7 12 6 2 6 8 8 1950–51 Springfield Indians AHL 43 12 26 38 37 2 0 0 0 0 1951–52 Syracuse Warriors AHL 50 12 36 48 56 — — — — — 1952–53 Syracuse Warriors AHL 52 19 40 59 44 4 0 0 0 2 1953–54 Springfield Indians QHL 19 11 14 25 25 — — — — — 1953–54 Syracuse Warriors AHL 46 21 39 60 54 — — — — — 1954–55 Edmonton Flyers WHL 67 50 60 110 71 16 12 7 19 40 1955–56 New York Rangers NHL 66 12 17 29 40 5 1 2 3 4 1956–57 New York Rangers NHL 7 1 2 3 4 — — — — — 1956–57 Montreal Canadiens NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1956–57 Rochester Americans AHL 56 37 44 81 39 10 6 7 13 14 1957–58 Boston Bruins NHL 67 30 36 66 71 12 5 3 8 8 1958–59 Boston Bruins NHL 45 19 20 39 58 7 2 3 5 0 1959–60 Boston Bruins NHL 68 39 41 80 60 — — — — — 1960–61 Boston Bruins NHL 47 15 15 30 15 — — — — — 1961–62 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 68 17 29 46 21 12 4 1 5 6 1962–63 New York Rangers NHL 41 7 15 22 34 — — — — — 1962–63 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 10 0 4 4 12 — — — — — 1962–63 Rochester Americans AHL 18 7 15 22 6 — — — — — 1963–64 Rochester Americans AHL 70 25 59 84 28 2 0 0 0 2 1964–65 Rochester Americans AHL 72 38 68 106 24 10 4 5 9 16 1965–66 Rochester Americans AHL 70 27 48 75 34 12 3 7 10 22 1966–67 Rochester Americans AHL 72 29 49 78 54 12 2 7 9 2 1967–68 Tulsa Oilers CPHL 4 1 2 3 0 — — — — — 1967–68 Rochester Americans AHL 44 15 29 44 10 10 0 7 7 0 1967–68 Minnesota North Stars NHL 14 1 6 7 4 — — — — — 1968–69 Rochester Americans AHL 66 18 30 48 30 — — — — — 1969–70 Rochester Americans AHL 5 3 1 4 0 — — — — — AHL totals 664 263 484 747 416 62 15 33 48 58 NHL totals 434 141 185 326 319 36 12 9 21 18

Awards and honours Bruins players of all time 2023 Hall of Fame’s Inducted into the Rochester Americans Hall of Fame in 1986 Inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame in 2015 Inducted into Ukrainian Sports Hall of Fame in 2019