Leo Labine: Boston’s Scrappy, Hard Hitting ‘Leo The Lion’

They aren’t all Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin or Patrick Kane today. They weren’t all Gordie Howe, Rocket Richard or Jean Beliveau in the Original 6 era. There are important cogs in the system that don’t often get their pictures in the sports page. That doesn’t mean they weren’t important. Leo Labine was one of those cogs.

 

Junior and Minor Pro Career

NHL Career

Hockey Card Collection

Rookie Card

Career Stats

Leo Labine – Junior and Minor Pro

Leo Labine played two years of major junior hockey in the OHA, 1949-50 with Toronto St. Michael’s and 1950-51 with the Barrie Flyers.With the Flyers, Leo enjoyed a magical season with the team advancing to the Memorial Cup finals and taking home the championship.

In that 1950-51 season, Labine scored 32 and assisted on 46 for 78 points over 52 regular season games with Barrie. In the Robertson Cup playoffs, Leo produced at over two points per game with 13 goal and 13 assists in 12 games.

With teammates like Doug Mohns, Jim Morrison and Jerry Toppazzini, the Hap Emms coached Flyers advanced to the Memorial Cup final against the Winnipeg Monarchs. The games were held in Winnipeg and Brandon in Manitoba. It took Barrie the minimum four games to be crowned Canadian major junior champions.

Labine’s National Hockey League career was sandwiched between stints in the minors. Parts of 1951-52 and 1952-53 were spent with the Hershey Bears in the AHL while also playing for the Boston Bruins in the NHL.

After he played his final NHL game during the 1961-62 season, Leo finished up the year in the EPHL with the Sudbury Wolves. The following year, he switched to the WHL and spent the next five years with the Los Angeles Blades. Those were the final five years of Labine’s pro hockey career.

In 1962-63, his first year with the Blades, Labine tied for tenth in the league with 47 assists and tied for ninth with 77 points. The following year, he finished tenth with 31 goals, tiend for seventh with 46 assists and placed sixth with 77 points. Los Angeles fell in the WHL finals to the San Francisco Seals in six games. Leo led the Blades in the playoffs with ten goals and 12 assists for 22 points over 12 games.

1965-66 was the last year Labine had a true impact with Los Angeles. His 33 goals tied him for seventh in the WHL with teammate Willie O’Ree.

Leo Labine – NHL Career

Leo Labine played in the National Hockey League from 1951-52 to 1961-62, appearing in 643 regular season games with the Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. Over that time, he scored 128 goals and assisted on 193 for 321 points. Leo also appeared in 60 Stanley Cup playoff games, adding another 12 goals and 23 points.

---

Leo Labine Collection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

 

Most of his career was spent with Boston, traded to Detroit 40 games into the 1960-61 season and playing just 48 with Detroit the following year before being sent down to the minors for good.

Individually, 1954-55 was Labine’s top NHL season. He scored 24 goals for the Bruins and assisted on 18 for 42 points over 67 regular season games. His 24 goals placed him eighth in the NHL.

Never a Stanley Cup champion, Leo played in the finals on three occasions. With the Bruins, Labine came up against the Montreal Canadiens dynasty in consecutive seasons, 1956-57 and 1957-58. The first year, the Bruins were eliminated in five games and the second year saw the series go six games. In 1960-61 with the Red Wings, Detroit fell in six to the Chicago Blackhawks in the finals.

Leo Labine – Rookie Card

The Leo Labine rookie card appears as number 81 in the 1952-53 Parkhurst NHL hockey card set. The first Labine card is valued at nearly twice that of a common card. Leo is featured as a member of the Boston Bruins.

Labine’s final card was included in the 1962-63 Parkhurst set. However, he played his final National Hockey League games the year before with Detroit and would spend the rest of his career in the minors. He is shown with the Red Wings on this hockey card.

Leo Labine Career Stats

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1949-50	St. Michael’s Majors	OHA	47	20	22	42	77
1950-51	Barrie Flyers	OHA	52	32	46	78	143
1951-52	Hershey Bears	AHL	53	23	23	46	88
1951-52	Boston Bruins	NHL	15	2	4	6	9
1952-53	Hershey Bears	AHL	16	7	3	10	33
1952-53	Boston Bruins	NHL	51	8	15	23	69
1953-54	Boston Bruins	NHL	68	16	19	35	57
1954-55	Boston Bruins	NHL	67	24	18	42	75
1955-56	Boston Bruins	NHL	68	16	18	34	104
1956-57	Boston Bruins	NHL	67	18	29	47	128
1957-58	Boston Bruins	NHL	62	7	14	21	60
1958-59	Boston Bruins	NHL	70	9	23	32	74
1959-60	Boston Bruins	NHL	63	16	28	44	58
1960-61	Boston Bruins	NHL	40	7	12	19	34
1960-61	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	24	2	9	11	32
1961-62	Sudbury Wolves	EPHL	19	10	10	20	18
1961-62	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	48	3	4	7	30
1962-63	Los Angeles Blades	WHL	68	30	47	77	90
1963-64	Los Angeles Blades	WHL	70	31	46	77	56
1964-65	Los Angeles Blades	WHL	58	16	37	53	42
1965-66	Los Angeles Blades	WHL	71	33	30	63	33
1966-67	Los Angeles Blades	WHL	70	18	29	47	24
	NHL Totals		643	128	193	321	730