Rod Gilbert

Not to be confused with Rhod Gilbert.
Rod Gilbert
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1982
Born (1941-07-01) July 1, 1941
Montreal, QC, CAN
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for New York Rangers
National team  Canada
Playing career 1960–1978
Website http://www.rodgilbert.com

Rodrigue Gabriel Gilbert (born July 1, 1941) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League. He played right wing on the GAG (goal-a-game) line that also featured Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982, and was the first player in New York Rangers history to have his number retired. Rod currently works for the New York Rangers Organization.

Playing career

During the 1959–60 OHA season, he slipped on some garbage strewn onto the ice and fell back into the boards. He broke the fifth vertebra in his back and doctors were worried they might have to amputate his legs when blood clots ensued. Gilbert started his career with the Rangers after finishing his junior career with the Guelph Royals during the 1960–61 season.

It did not take long for Gilbert to become popular with the Garden faithful, and he did not disappoint as he rose in prominence as an NHL star. However, it was not without pain. In 1965–66, his career was nearly derailed when he went through a second spinal fusion operation.[1] This surgery was performed by Dr. Kazuo Yanagisawa. He lost half a season, but he bounced back with a strong season in 1966–1967. On February 24, 1968, he scored four goals in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. The Ratelle-Hadfield-Gilbert line, called the GAG (Goal-A-Game) line, would terrorize enemy goaltenders for years. He was with Team Canada when they took on the Soviets in the 1972 Summit Series. He won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1976 for his perseverance regarding his back troubles.

At the beginning of the 1977–78 NHL season, Gilbert and Rangers' General Manager John Ferguson got into a contract dispute. When Gilbert finally returned to play, he was no longer the Gilbert of old. He retired after 19 seasons, having never led the Rangers to a Stanley Cup. His number 7 was retired by the Rangers on October 14, 1979; Gilbert's number 7 was the first number to be retired by the Rangers. In 1969 he owned his first restaurant. After his playing career was over, he opened his own restaurant 'Gilbert's' on Third Avenue near 75th street in Manhattan.

Awards and honors

Records

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1957–58 Guelph Biltmores OHA-Jr. 32 14 16 30 0 — — — — —
1958–59 Guelph Biltmores OHA-Jr. 54 27 34 61 40 — — — — —
1959–60 Guelph Biltmores OHA-Jr. 47 39 52 91 0 — — — — —
1959–60 Trois-Rivières Lions EPHL 3 4 6 10 0 5 2 2 4 2
1960–61 Guelph Royals OHA-Jr. 47 54 49 103 0 — — — — —
1960–61 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
1961–62 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 0 0 0 4 2 3 5 4
1961–62 Kitchener-Waterloo Beavers EPHL 21 12 11 23 22 4 0 0 0 4
1962–63 New York Rangers NHL 70 11 20 31 20 — — — — —
1963–64 New York Rangers NHL 70 24 40 64 62 — — — — —
1964–65 New York Rangers NHL 70 25 36 61 52 — — — — —
1965–66 New York Rangers NHL 34 10 15 25 20 — — — — —
1966–67 New York Rangers NHL 64 28 18 46 12 4 2 2 4 6
1967–68 New York Rangers NHL 73 29 48 77 12 6 5 0 5 4
1968–69 New York Rangers NHL 66 28 49 77 22 4 1 0 1 2
1969–70 New York Rangers NHL 72 16 37 53 22 6 4 5 9 0
1970–71 New York Rangers NHL 78 30 31 61 65 13 4 6 10 8
1971–72 New York Rangers NHL 73 43 54 97 64 16 7 8 15 11
1972–73 New York Rangers NHL 76 25 59 84 25 10 5 1 6 2
1973–74 New York Rangers NHL 75 36 41 77 20 13 3 5 8 4
1974–75 New York Rangers NHL 76 36 61 97 22 3 1 3 4 2
1975–76 New York Rangers NHL 70 36 50 86 32 — — — — —
1976–77 New York Rangers NHL 77 27 48 75 50 — — — — —
1977–78 New York Rangers NHL 19 2 7 9 6 — — — — —
NHL totals 1065 406 615 1021 508 79 34 33 67 43

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1972 Canada SS 6 1 3 4 9
1977 Canada WC 9 2 2 4 12
Senior totals 15 3 5 8 21

Trivia

Gilbert is one of ten athletes who were featured in American artist Andy Warhol's 1979 Athlete Series of paintings that featured prominent sports figures from the 1970s. Others appearing include O.J. Simpson, Chris Evert and Pelé.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kreiser & Friedman. The New York Rangers: Broadway's Longest Running Hit. Sports Publishing LLC, 1996
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