Bronco Horvath

Joseph Rudolph "Bronco" Horvath (born March 12, 1930 in Port Colborne, Ontario) is a retired former professional ice hockey player who played 434 games in the NHL between 1955 and 1968.

Early life

Horvath was born to an ethnic Hungarian family that emigrated from Transcarpathia after the end of World War I when the territory was ceded to Ukraine.

Career

Horvath is perhaps best remembered for his time playing on the famous "Uke Line" in Boston with the Bruins, with fellow Ukrainian-Canadians Johnny Bucyk and Vic Stasiuk. Horvath missed out on the Art Ross Trophy in 1959–60 by a single point to Bobby Hull, however he tied with Hull for the goal-scoring lead, with 39. He played for five of the Original Six teams in the NHL (only missing Detroit), He did apprentice with the Edmonton Flyers, Detroit's WHL farm team, along with John Bucyk & Vic Stasiuk, his future Uke Linemates. He was demoted to the minors in 1963.

He played most of the next six seasons with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. He was on three A.H.L. Calder Cup championships for Rochester in 1964–65, 1965–66 and 1967–68. and was among The League's Scoring Leaders for several seasons.

With the increased demand for players with the NHL expansion in 1967, Horvath found himself back in the league with the Minnesota North Stars. At mid-season of that year he returned to the Rochester Americans and helped lead them to the championship. He would finish his career with Rochester and ultimately retired from playing in 1970. Horvath is a charter member of the Rochester Americans Hall of Fame.

The following year he became coach of the London Knights of the OHL, from 1971–72. He moved to South Yarmouth, Mass., when he was named coach of the Cape Cod Cubs, an expansion team in the Eastern Hockey League, in 1972. He coached the Cubs to a regular-season divisional championship and a sweep of their first-round playoff series with the Long Island Ducks before a powerful Syracuse Blazers team ended Cape Cod's league championship hopes. Horvath returned as coach for the 1973–74 season with the Cubs, who were charter members of the new North American Hockey League, but was fired after the team got off to a slow start. His last coaching job was a brief stint at Dennis-Yarmouth (Mass.) Regional High School. He still resides on Cape Cod, where he enjoys an occasional round of golf.

Bronco has been named as a 2015 inductee to the American Hockey League (AHL) Hall of Fame.

Career statistics