Ingarfield Sr. to be inducted into AHHOF, reflects on NHL days

By Lethbridge Herald on March 21, 2023.

SUBMITTED photo Earl Ingarfield Sr. was the first player taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1967 expansion draft.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

Lethbridge’s Earl Ingarfield Sr. is one of the inductees heading  into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame for 2023.

  Their Achievements, dedication and commitments to building hockey in Alberta is how the inductees got into the AHHOF.

“Well it’s very nice,” said Ingarfield Sr.

“I’m happy about it … So it’s nice to be considered.”

He played his first year of junior in Medicine Hat and it was a season later he came back home to play with the Lethbridge Native Sons from 1952-1955.

“I tried out for the Native Sons, and didn’t make the team and so I ended up in Medicine Hat and had a decent year,” said Ingarfield Sr.

“And then the following year, the Native Sons made a trade to get me back to Lethbridge and then I spent the next three seasons playing for the Native Sons.”

Ingarfield said it was definitely huge help in getting to the NHL, when describing his time with the Native Sons 

“I had good coaching with the Native Sons ,and the general manager at the time was Ed Bruchet, who was a scout for the New York Rangers, and we were actually sponsored by the Rangers. In those days, NHL teams sponsored junior teams across Canada. So you were their property unless you decided not to sign on with them after your junior career was over.”

After leaving Lethbridge, Ingarfield Sr. started his professional career in the Western Pro League where he had three strong years with the  Saskatoon Quakers (1955-and Winnipeg Warriors from, before joining the Rangers where he played nine seasons from 1958-1967.

Ingarfield Sr.  played in the National Hockey League for 13 seasons (1958-71), totalling 746 games, 179 goals, 226 assists and 405 points in his career.

“I signed a contract … to try out with the Rangers,” he said.

“So just went to training camp and made the team in 1958.”

Ingarfield Sr. found himself  being a regular in the Rangers line up in the 1960-1961 season where he formed an effective forward unit with Andy Bathgate and Dean Prentice.

“Well it took a little while for it to happen,” said Ingarfield Sr.

“I didn’t play much  the first couple of years, played very little, and then when they changed coaching and what not, things changed for me. I got a chance to play with Andy and Dean and it was the biggest break I had for sure, is to play with those two linemates because they were great players, and wonderful people to play with and to be associated with.”

Ingarfield said it was very nice, when getting to play for the Rangers.

“Wonderful, as matter of fact,” he said.

“But I would have been happy to play for any National Hockey League team. But New York  became very special to me because we spent nine years there and was very enjoyable. (I) had some tough years, but that’s what happens, but overall it was a great experience.”

The Pittsburgh Penguins plucked Ingarfield from the Rangers as their very first player in the 1967 expansion draft.

“Well it was pretty difficult for all expansion teams,” said Ingarfield Sr.

“ … The Original Six, only had to leave a few players open (to) each team. So it was a lot of minor league players that got the opportunity to play when the expansion came along. And so, it was difficult for all the new teams to really compete.”

Ingarfield Sr. tallied 37 points despite being down for 30 games with a knee injury in his first season.

“Well, we missed the playoffs the first year I was there by about a point or two,” he said.

“It came down to the last game of the season. We won our game and the team that was ahead of us won theirs. But we actually were only seven points out of first place (and) didn’t make the playoffs.”

It was the next season he was named team captain, but was shortly after traded to the Oakland Seals and  eventually retired with the California Golden Seals in 1971.

“I felt that I was losing a little step and I was getting injured more and so I decided it was time to retire,” said Ingarfield Sr.

He then accepted  the head coaching job with the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats after retirement in 1971-1972, but only stayed a year due to family consideration.

In 1972, Ingarfield was back in the NHL but this time as a scout with the then expansion New York Islanders.

However, it was with 30 games left in the 1972-1973 season, that Ingarfield was persuaded to take over the head coaching reigns with the team after they fired Phil Goyette.

“Bill Torrey offered me a job,” he recalled

“ I resigned with Regina. We had just built a new home here in Lethbridge, and my family didn’t come with me to Regina. So I wasn’t interested in going back there without them, and we had a young daughter born then and so it made sense for me to take the scouting job. And instead, Bill called me, and I decided I’d go with the Islanders. He had been a vice-president of the Oakland Seals when I played there. So I knew him and was familiar with him and we became pretty good friends and that’s how it all happened.”

He stayed on with Islanders for two more years after as a scout and it was a special feeling for him to help in drafting the likes of Bob Nystrom, Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier and Duane and Brent Sutter.

“It was very special after when it happened and then how they all turned out,” he said.

Ingarfield Sr. concluded his career with two years at the helm with the Lethbridge Broncos as general manager and head coach from 1974-1976.

His other accolades include being inducted into the Lethbridge and Southern Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, the New York Rangers Alumni Hall of Fame in 2002, honoured by the New York Islanders in 2006 and in 2007 was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

Ingarfield Sr. will be joined by Charlie Huddy, Tim Hunter, Karen Kost, Bobby Olynyk, John Utendale and the Edmonton Chimos hockey team under the “A Decade of Excellence” category.

The inductees will be welcomed to the AHHOF at a gala in Canmore on July 16.