Ed Hospodar

Who is Ed Hospodar?

Edward David "Boxcar" Hospodar is a retired American-Canadian professional ice hockey defenseman who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers, Hartford Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota North Stars and Buffalo Sabres. However, he did not see a great deal of ice time at any point in his career, used primarily as an enforcer.

He was known for being one of the instigators of a pregame brawl between the Montreal Canadiens and the Flyers in the old Montreal Forum prior to Game 6 of the Wales Conference Finals on May 14, 1987—an act which earned him a suspension for the remainder of that year's playoffs.

While with the Rangers, Hospodar's face was badly damaged by Clark Gillies of the New York Islanders in a 1981 fight at Madison Square Garden. In 450 NHL games, Hospodar scored 17 goals and had 51 assists, with 4 goals and one assist during 44 playoff games. He acquired 1314 penalty minutes during his regular season games, and 208 penalty minutes during his playoff games. Hospodar retired from hockey in 1988.

Hospodar received his nickname in junior hockey after a writer deemed the force of his checks to be commensurate to that of a "runaway boxcar." Although born in the US, Hospodar learned the game in Canada; his father was a plant manager for the Campbell's Soup Company, overseeing plants in New Jersey, Ohio, and later Ontario. Hospodar's brother became a Byzantine Catholic priest.