Dale Roland Carl Rolfe (born April 30, 1940) is a Canadian former

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

. He played for four teams in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

between 1960 and 1975. He spent his junior career with the

Barrie Flyers The Barrie Flyers were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1945 to 1960, from Barrie, Ontario. The Flyers played home games at the Barrie Arena from 1945 to 1960. History The Barrie Flyers junior team was founded ...

through the 1956–57 and 1959–60 seasons. During the 1959–60 NHL season, Rolfe played three games with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

as well as two games with the Kingston Frontenacs of the EPHL.

Professional career

Rolfe then spent the 1960–61 and 1961–62 season with the Portland Buckaroos of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

. Rolfe then moved to the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

where he spent the next season with the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season maki ...

and the following four seasons with the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existe ...

. In the 1967–68 season, he returned to the National Hockey League, playing for the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

. He played for the Kings until he was traded to the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

on February 20, 1970. Rolfe stayed with Detroit for the remainder of the 1969–70 season and the majority of the 1970–71 season before being traded to the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

for Jim Krulicki where he would spend the rest of his professional career, retiring after the 1974–75 NHL season. Rolfe played a total of 509 NHL regular season games with 25 goals, 125 assists and 556

penalty minutes A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...

. He was recognized by opponents to be a smart defender who used tremendous reach and strength to play the puck or take a man out of the play.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolfe, Dale 1940 births Living people Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Detroit Red Wings players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Ontario Kingston Frontenacs (EPHL) players Los Angeles Kings players New York Rangers players Portland Buckaroos players Sportspeople from Timmins Springfield Indians players