Signed with the Boston Bruins organization as a teenager, Lonsberry enjoyed an outstanding junior career with the Estevan Bruins junior club of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, winning the scoring championship in his final season with 144 points in only 60 games, and following with 23 goals in 25 playoff gamesen route to the Memorial Cup semifinals. Starting in 1966, Lonsberry had a three-year professional apprenticeship with the Bruins' Central Professional Hockey Leaguefarm team, the Oklahoma City Blazers, while spending some time with the NHL club in each of the three seasons. Coveted by the Los Angeles Kings, they traded for him in 1970 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 in 1972. He played 82 games combined in a 78-game season with the Kings and Flyers in 1971-72. Shortly thereafter, however, he was traded in a seven-player deal that was at the time the largest in league history to the Philadelphia Flyers, with whom he would meet with the most success. Playing on a line with Rick MacLeish and Gary Dornhoefer, 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, the first such championship, where he had a career high 32 goals and followed with 13 points in 17 playoff games. In 1978, Lonsberry was dealt for the final time to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 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 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.
