1962-63 Topps 42 Reg Fleming Hockey Card (Front)
1962-63 Topps 42 Reggie Fleming Hockey Card (Back)
Card Notes
“Sometimes called ‘Puck’s Bad Boy.’ Reg plays anywhere but goal, has developed into one of the league’s top penalty killers. Despite penchant for drawing penalties himself, he cut time in ‘sin bin’ from 145 minutes as a rookie to 71.”
Reggie’s lull in penalty minutes didn’t last much past the 1961-62 season. Over his NHL career with the Canadiens, Blackhawks, Bruins, Rangers, Flyers and Sabres, Fleming topped 120 PIM nine times. The only two seasons below 100 PIM were the 1961-62 and 1962-63 campaigns.
In 1965-66, Fleming led the NHL with 166 penalty minutes. It was a season split between Boston and New York. Although his season was pretty much divided equally between the Bruins and Rangers, appearing in 34 games for Boston and 35 for New York, his roles with each squad were drastically different. With Boston, he sat just 42 minutes. With the Rangers, it was his second home with 124 PIM.
Fleming wasn’t all fists and elbows, though. He scored 18 and assisted on 23 for the Bruins in 1964-65. He followed that up with 14, 15 and 17 goal seasons in an era when the back of the net was hard to find.