Dale Rolfe

Dale Roland Carl Rolfe (born April 30, 1940) is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman. He played for four teams in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1960 and 1975. He spent his junior career with the Barrie Flyers through the 1956–57 and 1959–60 seasons. During the 1959–60 NHL season, Rolfe played three games with the Boston Bruins as well as two games with the Kingston Frontenacs of the EPHL.

Professional career Rolfe then spent the 1960–61 and 1961–62 seasons with the Portland Buckaroos of the Western Hockey League. Rolfe then moved to the American Hockey League where he spent the next season with the Hershey Bears and the following four seasons with the Springfield Indians. In the 1967–68 season, he returned to the National Hockey League, playing for the Los Angeles Kings. He played for the Kings until he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings on February 20, 1970. Rolfe stayed with Detroit for the remainder of the 1969–70 season and the majority of the 1970–71 season before being traded to the New York Rangers for Jim Krulicki where he would spend the rest of his professional career, retiring after the 1974–75 NHL season.

Rolfe was noted for being at the wrong end of a lopsided fight with Dave Schultz in a 4–3 defeat to the Philadelphia Flyers in the decisive Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals at The Spectrum on May 5, 1974. Dispelling any perception that his Rangers teammates were intimidated because they stood by and did nothing, Brad Park sent an email to the New York Post in 2011 stating that the NHL "had brought the third-man-in rule, so someone would have gotten thrown out of the game with a game misconduct for intervening" and that Rolfe "looked me in the eye and said to stay out of it" for that exact reason when Park tried to step in.

Rolfe's career as an active player ended as a result of a left ankle fracture when the blade of his skate caught a rut on Madison Square Garden ice in the second period of an 8–6 Rangers loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 2, 1975. His left talus was pulled completely out of the ankle joint with the broken bones cutting through his hockey sock. Team orthopedist Dr. James Nicholas informed him that "there is a real and dangerous risk of reinjury" and advised him to stop playing hockey.

Rolfe played a total of 509 NHL regular season games with 25 goals, 125 assists, and 556 penalty minutes.

He was recognized by opponents to be a smart defender who used tremendous reach and strength to play the puck or take a man out of the play.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1956–57 Barrie Flyers OHA 52 18 16 34 37 3 0 0 0 2 1957–58 Barrie Flyers OHA 50 5 22 27 83 4 0 0 0 8 1958–59 Barrie Flyers OHA 44 9 25 34 132 6 1 4 5 24 1959–60 Barrie Flyers OHA 48 8 39 47 127 6 1 6 7 25 1959–60 Boston Bruins NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1959–60 Kingston Frontenacs EPHL 2 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 1960–61 Portland Buckaroos WHL 70 4 12 16 52 14 2 5 7 8 1961–62 Portland Buckaroos WHL 70 7 15 22 65 7 1 2 3 8 1962–63 Hershey Bears AHL 53 3 9 12 78 11 1 3 4 26 1963–64 Springfield Indians AHL 71 2 16 18 103 — — — — — 1964–65 Springfield Indians AHL 69 10 25 35 68 — — — — — 1965–66 Springfield Indians AHL 71 5 27 32 94 6 0 1 1 16 1966–67 Springfield Indians AHL 67 14 35 49 94 — — — — — 1967–68 Los Angeles Kings NHL 68 3 13 16 84 7 0 1 1 14 1967–68 Springfield Indians AHL 6 1 5 6 2 — — — — — 1968–69 Los Angeles Kings NHL 75 3 19 22 85 10 0 4 4 8 1969–70 Los Angeles Kings NHL 55 1 9 10 77 — — — — — 1969–70 Detroit Red Wings NHL 20 2 9 11 12 4 0 2 2 8 1970–71 Detroit Red Wings NHL 44 3 9 12 48 — — — — — 1970–71 New York Rangers NHL 14 0 7 7 23 13 0 1 1 14 1971–72 New York Rangers NHL 68 2 14 16 67 16 4 3 7 16 1972–73 New York Rangers NHL 72 7 25 32 74 8 0 5 5 6 1973–74 New York Rangers NHL 48 3 12 15 56 13 1 8 9 23 1974–75 New York Rangers NHL 42 1 8 9 30 — — — — — NHL totals 509 25 125 150 556 71 5 24 29 89