Edgar Laprade, 94, Center And Gentleman on the Ice

Playing all 10 of his N.H.L. seasons with the Rangers, Laprade was a superb puck handler and penalty killer, and he seemed to glide effortlessly along the ice.

His finesse was evident even to a hockey novice like William Faulkner, who was commissioned by Sports Illustrated to witness his first hockey game.

Attending a January 1955 matchup between the Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens at the Garden, Faulkner singled out three players who were “as fluid and fast and effortless as rapier thrusts or lightning”: the Canadiens’ Maurice Richard and Bernie Geoffrion and “the veteran Laprade, still with the know-how and the grace.”

Laprade did not incur a single penalty in three of his seasons, playing in 151 games. He drew only 42 penalty minutes in 500 career games.