Ed Belfour is a true legend of the game. He’s one of the most popular goalies in NHL history and also one of the most successful. He’s in the top five list of the most winningest goaltenders in league history, and it wasn’t a coincidence.
Ed Belfour worked harder than most and is the pure definition of a perfectionist. He loved to compete, and he loved to get better, but he also liked things in his way.
Belfour had his ideas on how to get better, how you should train, and what you should do off the ice to improve as well. That led to some interesting happenings in practices and the locker room.
On the podcast ”When Goalies Were Weird,” Jeremy Roenick appeared to talk about Belfour, and he shared an awesome story about how the goalie once went after tough guy Dave Manson.
The three played together in the Chicago Blackhawks, and if someone did something Belfour didn’t like, he made sure they never did it again.
Belfour hated high shots during practice, and one time, Manson took a slapper both high and hard.
”I remember a time, Dave Manson took a slap shot during practice. It zipped right next to his head and clipped his ear‚” Roenick said.
”The next time Dave Manson came down the middle, Ed had already run out the crease and met Dave Manson at the blue line and absolutely clotheslined him before he even knew it was going to happen.
”Dave Manson was one of the toughest guys not only on our team, but in the league. And Eddie went after him like, ’You don’t shoot a puck at me like that in practice.’ And he kind of set a tone and a message that, ’Don’t f-ck with me, and you don’t do things because I’m your bread and butter here.’ He would never say that, but he truly believed that his position was the most important position, and he could win and lose game by himself.”
Ed Belfour never won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks, but he did win it in 1999 as a member of the Dallas Stars, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.
