1968-69 O-Pee-Chee 91 Ed Van Impe Hockey Card (Front)
1968-69 O-Pee-Chee 91 Ed Van Impe Hockey Card (Back)
1968-69 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
Card Notes
Five solid years with the AHL Buffalo Bisons finally earned Ed Van Impe a shot with the NHL Chicago Black Hawks. He impressed Philadelphia brass enough to grab him in the expansion draft. He’s a real hard hitter and likes the going rough.
En Français
Défense. Après cinq ans avec les Bisons de Buffalo dans la LAH, Ed Van Impe eut enfin un essai avec Chicago de la LNH. La direction du Philadelphie fut suffisamment impressionnée pour le repêcher à l’expansion. Il frappe dur et il joue dur.
Details
Over his five years in the American Hockey League with the Buffalo Bisons, 1961-62 to 1965-66, Ed Van Impe sat 911 penalty minutes in just 347 regular season games. When he jumped to the NHL for the 1966-67 season, Van Impe finished a distant second in Calder Trophy voting behind Bobby Orr. Also in the running were Brian Conacher, Joe Watson and Pete Mahovlich.
Picked 16th overall at the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, Ed was the first first non-goalie taken by the club. Ahead of him were Bernie Parent and Doug Favell. Van Impe would remain with the Flyers from 1967-68 until a March 9, 1976 trade sent him to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He would appear in just 22 games with Pittsburgh before calling it a career.
Van Impe was the second team captain in Flyers franchise history, taking over for Lou Angotti for the 1968-69 season. The ‘C’ would remain on his jersey until Bobby Clarke took over in January, 1973.
Between 1966-67 and 1976-77, Ed played in 700 regular season and 66 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Blackhawks, Flyers and Penguins. He would help the Flyers to consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 1973-74 and 1974-75.