David Ross Lonsberry (February 7, 1947 – May 4, 2014) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

who played 15 seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) for 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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

and

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

. He had his best seasons in a Flyers uniform and was a member of Philadelphia's back-to-back

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

championship teams in the mid-1970s.

Playing career

Signed with the

organization as a teenager, Lonsberry enjoyed an outstanding junior career with the

Estevan Bruins The Estevan Bruins are a junior ice hockey team playing in the Junior "A" Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The team is based in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada, and plays at Affinity Place. They were founded in 1971, when a previous fran ...

junior club of the

Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Open to North American-born players 20 years o ...

(SJHL), winning the scoring championship in his final season with 144 points in only 60 games, and following with 23 goals in 25 playoff games en route to the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

semifinals. Starting in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, Lonsberry had a three-year professional apprenticeship with the Bruins'

Central Professional Hockey League Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

farm team, the Oklahoma City Blazers, while spending some time with the NHL club in each of the three seasons. Coveted by the

, they traded for him in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

for two first round draft picks, and he became a steady two-way performer for Los Angeles, scoring twenty or more goals each of his two full seasons with the Kings and being named to play in the

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game () is an exhibition ice hockey tournament that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many of the League's star players playing against each other. The ga ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

. He played 82 games combined in a 78-game season with the Kings and Flyers in 1971-72. He is also noted for scoring the first NHL goal at the

Pacific Coliseum Pacific Coliseum, locally known as The Coliseum or the Rink on Renfrew, is an indoor arena located at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its main use has been for ice hockey and the arena has been the home for several ice hockey tea ...

, then the home of the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

. He was acquired along with

Bill Flett William Mayer Flett (July 21, 1943 – July 12, 1999) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames. Flett then moved t ...

Jean Potvin Jean René Potvin (March 25, 1949 – March 15, 2022) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, ...

and

Eddie Joyal Edward Abel Joyal (born May 8, 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and Philadelphia Flyers between 1963 and 1972. He also played i ...

by the Flyers from the

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations. *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...

for

Serge Bernier Serge Joseph Bernier (born April 29, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played seven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings and Quebec Nordiques and six seasons ...

Bill Lesuk William Anton Lesuk (born November 1, 1946) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals, and Winnipeg ...

and Jim Johnson on January 28, 1972. The transaction was the largest in league history at the time. He would meet with the most success with the Flyers. Playing on a line with

Rick MacLeish Richard George MacLeish (January 3, 1950 – May 30, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers, Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit ...

and

Gary Dornhoefer Gerhardt Otto Dornhoefer (born February 2, 1943), better known as Gary Dornhoefer, is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston ...

, his hard-nosed two-way style fit in perfectly with the "Broad Street Bullies," scoring over twenty goals in three of his six and a half seasons in Philadelphia and participating in both of the Flyers' Stanley Cup championships. His best season was

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, the first such championship, where he had a career high 32 goals and followed with 13 points in 17 playoff games. In

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, Lonsberry was dealt for the final time to the

, remaining an effective player for his three years with that club. With Pittsburgh in a youth movement and declining to renew his contract, he retired after the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

season. Lonsberry finished his career with 256 goals and 310 assists for 566 points in 968 games, adding 806 penalty minutes. He also played in 100 playoff games, scoring 21 goals and 25 assists. After his playing career, Lonsberry went into the commercial insurance business in the Los Angeles area. He died of cancer on May 4, 2014.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lonsberry, Ross 1947 births 2014 deaths Boston Bruins players Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey left wingers Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL) players Estevan Bruins players Los Angeles Kings players Minneapolis Bruins players Oklahoma City Blazers (1965–1977) players Ice hockey people from Humboldt, Saskatchewan Philadelphia Flyers players Pittsburgh Penguins players Stanley Cup champions Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States 20th-century Canadian sportsmen