After playing his first five professional seasons with the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL, Ed Van Impe saw his first NHL action with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1966–67.

Left unprotected for the expansion draft that off-season, the Philadelphia Flyers picked Van Impe off the Black Hawks' roster.

He played eight and a half seasons with the Flyers and was one of the team's best defensive blueliners, serving as the second captain in franchise history, from 1968 to 1973.

On January 11, 1976, at the Spectrum, Van Impe's Flyers, as part of Super Series '76, played a memorable exhibition game against the Soviet Union's dominant Central Red Army team.

[1] Van Impe's Flyer career came to an end midway through the 1975–76 season as he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Bobby Taylor for Gary Inness and cash.