The first Earl Ingarfield played nearly 750 regular season games in the National Hockey League with 21 more in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Earl Ingarfield Jr. also played in the NHL but his 39 regular season and two playoff games were considerably less than his father. Both were junior stars in Lethbridge, Alberta before their pro careers got started.
Earl Ingarfield Sr.
Junior and Minor Pro
Ingarfield played four years in the WCJHL from 1951-52 to 1954-55 with the Lethbridge Native Sons. His first pro action came in his final year of junior when he appeared in two games with the Vancouver Canucks of the WHL, his only two games he’d play for the Canucks.
Earl’s first three years of pro hockey were played in the WHL with the Saskatoon Quakers and Winnipeg Warriors. In 1957-58 with the Alf Pike coached Warriors, Ingarfield scored 39 and assisted on 41 for 80 points over 64 regular season games. He led the team in goals and points, a great feat considering he had teammates like Art Stratton, Bill Mosienko and Howie Glover.
That 1957-58 Winnipeg team finished second overall in the eight team WHL and first in the four team Prairie Division. Ingarfield finished tied for fourth in the WHL for goals with Len Lunde of the Edmonton Flyers. He also placed sixth in the overall scoring race.
In 1959-60, Earl was sent down to the Cleveland Barons of the AHL by the New York Rangers after 20 games. Playing just 40 games for the Barons, Ingarfield scored 25 and assisted on 40 for 65 points, placing second on the team in points despite most other players appearing in the full 72 games. The team was led in scoring by Fred Glover, brother of Howie. Glover also led the whole American Hockey League in points, earning the John B. Sollenberger Trophy.
NHL Career
Ingarfield played 746 regular season National Hockey League games between 1958-59 and 1970-71 with the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Oakland Seals (California Golden Seals). Over that time, Earl scored 179 and assisted on 226 for 405 points. Because the Rangers often missed the playoffs in the era, Ingarfield played in just 21 post season games over his career, mostly with the Penguins and Seals.
His pinnacle NHL season came in 1961-62 with the Rangers. Earl scored 26 and assisted on 31 for 57 points while playing the full 70 game schedule. He tied for eight in the NHL goal scoring race with Norm Ullman of the Detroit Red Wings, Dave Keon of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Alex Delvecchio of the Red Wings. Ingarfield added five points in six playoff games as the Rangers fell to the Maple Leafs 4-2 in the opening round.
At the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, Ingarfield was taken in the third round, 17th overall, by Pittsburgh. He was traded midway through the 1968-69 season to the Seals. Six players came from the Penguins to Oakland that year but just Bryan Watson went the other way.
In the 1968-69 Stanley Cup playoffs, Oakland met up with the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round. The Kings won in seven but the Seals outscored their opponents 25-23 on the series. Ingarfield led the Fred Glover coached Seals with ten points over the seven games.
Earl Ingarfield – Rookie Card
The Earl Ingarfield rookie card appears as number 18 in the 1958-59 Topps set. The card is valued as a common card and shows Earl as a member of the New York Rangers. The 66 card set is best known for the rookie card of Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Earl Ingarfield Jr.
The younger Ingarfield also played his junior hockey in the WHL. Earl played three years from 1976-77 to 1978-79, his first with the Regina Pats and his final two with the Lethbridge Broncos.
In his final year with the Broncos, Ingarfield scored 43 and assisted on 46 for 89 points over 70 regular season games. He was just fourth on the team for goals and points. Duane Sutter led Lethbridge with 125 points but was still nowhere near the league leader. Brian Propp of the Brandon Wheat Kings put up 94 goals and 100 assists for a whopping 194 points. The Broncos reached the semi-finals before being the odd man out in a three team round robin.
Earl played pro hockey from 1979-80 to 1986-87 in the CHL, NHL, AHL and IHL. He was undrafted to the NHL and played in the league for just 39 games between 1979-80 and 1980-81. Ingarfield appeared with the Atlanta Flames, Calgary Flames and Detroit Red Wings. With Atlanta, he got into two Stanley Cup playoff games in 1979-80.