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Uploaded By: PRESIDENT on November 25th, 2017

Valere Ronald "Mr Clean" Fonteyne - Born December 2, 1933 in Wetaskiwin, Alberta is a retired Canadian professional ice Hockey left winger.

Fonteyne played junior for three years with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League / WCJHL. He next played a year of senior Hockey with the Kelowna Packers of the Okanagan Senior Hockey League / OSHL.

Fonteyne then spent four years skating for the Seattle Americans/Totems of the Western Hockey League / WHL. During his last two years with the Totems, he scored 66 goals and a total of 156 points, with 13 penalty minutes, and was placed on the WHL Coast Division first all-star team.

Edmonton Flyers coach Bud Poile recommended Fonteyne to the Detroit Red Wings, who signed him to his first NHL contract. Fonteyne looked solid while playing 69 games as a rookie in 1959-60. In all, he played four years in Detroit and helped the team reach the Stanley Cup finals in 1961. He received just 12 minutes in penalties in his first 4 seasons.

The New York Rangers in the 1963 Intra-League Draft claimed the hard-working winger. He formed an effective forward unit with Don Marshall and Vic Hadfield in 1963-64, scoring 7 goals and 18 assists, with 4 penalty minutes. He played just 27 games for the Rangers the next season, before he was claimed on waivers by Detroit from the Rangers, February 8, 1965.

In 1965-66 he was a consistent performer for the Red Wings playing with Bryan Watson and Parker McDonald. That spring he played 12 post-season matches while helping Detroit reach the Stanley Cup finals. Fonteyne split the 1966-67 season between the NHL and the AHL Pittsburgh Hornets.

Fonteyne was claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL expansion draft on June 6, 1967, and played five years with the Penguins and set career highs with 34 points in 1967-68 and 12 goals in 1968-69. He was often teamed on the same penalty killing line with Nick Harbaruk and Ron Schock and also skated alongside Andy Bathgate. Fonteyne was also among the league's least penalized players and once played 185 straight games without drawing so much as a minor penalty.

Fonteyne was selected by the Alberta Oilers in World Hockey association / WHA general player draft, February 12, 1972, and played out his pro career in Alberta, retiring in 1974.

Fonteyne played in 185 consecutive games without serving any time in the penalty box. Later he compiled a second streak of 157 penalty-free games. In 820 NHL games, Fonteyne spent a grand total of 26 minutes in the penalty box, and is the only player to complete three consecutive seasons without taking a single minor penalty and the only one to record five penalty-free seasons during his career.

Valere “Val” Fonteyne was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame & Museum in 2011

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