Rod Gilbert
{{Short description|Canadian ice hockey player (1941–2021)}}
{{For|the Welsh comedian and broadcaster|Rhod Gilbert}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| image = Topps 1960 Rod Gilbert.png
| image_size = 230px
| caption = Gilbert with the New York Rangers in 1960
| position = Right wing
| shoots = Right
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 9
| weight_lb = 175
| played_for = New York Rangers
| ntl_team = CAN
| birth_date = {{birth date|1941|07|01}}
| birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|08|19|1941|07|01|mf=y}}
| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
| career_start = 1960
| career_end = 1978
| halloffame = 1982
| website = [http://www.rodgilbert.com www.rodgilbert.com]
}}
Rodrigue Gabriel Gilbert (July 1, 1941 – August 19, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played his entire career for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as "Mr. Ranger", he played right wing on the GAG line (Goal-A-Game line) with Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982, and was the first player in Rangers history to have his number retired. After his playing career, he became president of the Rangers' alumni association.
Early life
Gilbert was born in Montreal on July 1, 1941, the son of Alma, a homemaker, and Gabriel Gilbert, a blacksmith. He grew up a fan of the Montreal Canadiens.{{cite web|last1=Kreda|first1=Allan|title=One Team, 406 Goals, a Million Stories: Mr. Ranger Is Still Making Fans|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/02/sports/hockey/rangers-rod-gilbert.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 19, 2017|date=April 2, 2017}} He played three seasons for the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1957 to 1960. In his final year with the team, Gilbert slipped on some garbage strewn on the ice and fell back into the boards, breaking a vertebra in his back and temporarily paralyzing him.{{cite web|title=Tarzan the clown turns 85 {{!}} GuelphMercury.com|url=https://www.guelphmercury.com/news-story/2748823-tarzan-the-clown-turns-85/| website = GuelphMercury.com|publisher=Guelph Mercury|access-date=July 19, 2017|language=en-CA|date=April 2, 2011}}{{cite web|last1=Malinowski|first1=Mark|title=Rod Gilbert {{!}} The Hockey News|url=http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/article/rod-gilbert| website = The Hockey News|publisher=The Hockey News|access-date=July 19, 2017|language=en-CA|date=September 25, 2011}} Corrective surgery went awry and led to hemorrhaging in his leg, and doctors feared amputation would be necessary, but Gilbert recovered.{{cite book|last1=Fischler|first1=Stan|title=New York Rangers: Greatest Moments and Players|date=2015|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.|isbn=9781613218259|page=37|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OBuXCwAAQBAJ&q=rod+gilbert+1966+strong+season&pg=PA37|access-date=July 19, 2017|language=en}}
Playing career
After finishing his junior career with the Guelph Royals, Gilbert joined the Rangers near the end of the 1960–61 NHL season. He soon became popular with the Rangers' fans, and 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.Kreiser & Friedman. The New York Rangers: Broadway's Longest Running Hit. Sports Publishing LLC, 1996 This surgery was performed by Dr. Kazuo Yanagisawa. Gilbert was out of action for half a season, but he bounced back in 1966–67 and scored 28 goals. On February 24, 1968, he scored four goals in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. The Ratelle-Hadfield-Gilbert line, called the GAG line, proved formidable for years. He played with Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. He won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1976 for his perseverance over his back troubles.{{cite web|title=Silverware -- 1975-76 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy Winner -- Gilbert, Rod -- Legends of Hockey|url=http://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SilverwareTrophyWinner.jsp?tro=BMT&year=1975-76| website = www.hhof.com|publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame|access-date=July 19, 2017}}
At the beginning of the 1977–78 NHL season, Gilbert and Rangers' General Manager John Ferguson got into a contract dispute. He was released by the Rangers on November 23, 1977 after starting the campaign with two goals and seven assists in 19 games.[https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/25/archives/rod-gilbert-is-released-by-rangers-rangers-drop-gilbert-36-offer.html Herman, Robin. "Rod Gilbert Is Released By Rangers," The New York Times, Friday, November 25, 1977.] Retrieved September 2, 2023. He would retire after the season, his eighteenth in the NHL. His number 7 was retired by the Rangers on October 14, 1979, the first number to be retired by the team.{{cite web|last1=Price|first1=Bill|title=Hadfield Numbers Among Mess Fans|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/hadfield-numbers-mess-fans-article-1.638473| website = NY Daily News|publisher=NY Daily News|access-date=July 19, 2017|language=en|date=January 13, 2006}}
Post-playing career
After retiring from professional hockey, he became head coach of the American Hockey League New Haven Nighthawks for the 1980-81 season. Gilbert opened his own restaurant, 'Gilbert's,' on Third Avenue near 75th street in Manhattan.{{cite news|title=Gilbert's long and winding path back to Rangers|url=https://www.nhl.com/news/gilberts-long-and-winding-path-back-to-rangers/c-410231|first=Adam|last=Kimelman|date=February 20, 2009|accessdate=August 23, 2021|publisher=National Hockey League|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823075808/https://www.nhl.com/news/gilberts-long-and-winding-path-back-to-rangers/c-410231|archivedate=August 23, 2021}} He subsequently worked for Fundamental Brokers on Wall Street, assisting the company in opening a branch in his hometown of Montreal. He returned to the Rangers organization in August 1989. There, he acted as director of special projects and community relations representative, as well as president of its alumni association. From 2017 onward, he made upward of 30 appearances a year on behalf of the Garden of Dreams Foundation, an outreach program that works with children in the community.
Personal life
Gilbert married Judith Christy in 1991, in a ceremony conducted by New York mayor David Dinkins.{{cite web|last1=Kennedy|first1=Kostya|title=Rod Gilbert, New York Rangers right wing January 30, 1967|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1998/04/20/241882/rod-gilbert-new-york-rangers-right-wing-january-30-1967| website = SI.com|publisher=Sports Illustrated|access-date=July 19, 2017|date=April 20, 1998}} Combined, they had four children together, Holly, Brooke, Chantal and Justin, and seven grandchildren. Chantal and Justin were children from his first wife, Judith Linton from Crawfordville, Florida. Linton was a stewardess for National Airlines at the time.{{cite news |last1=Paybarah |first1=Azi |last2=Jiménez |first2=Jesus |date=August 22, 2021 |title=Rod Gilbert, Hockey Hall of Famer Known as Mr. Ranger, Dies at 80 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/22/sports/rod-gilbert-dead.html |access-date=August 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101054327/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/22/sports/rod-gilbert-dead.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022}} He was one of ten athletes who were featured in American artist Andy Warhol's 1979 Athlete Series of paintings, which featured prominent sports figures from the 1970s. Others in the series include O. J. Simpson, Chris Evert, and Pelé.{{cite web|title=Andy Warhol (1928-1987), The Complete Athletes Series|url=http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/andy-warhol-1928-1987-the-complete-athletes-5437871-details.aspx| website = www.christies.com|access-date=July 19, 2017|language=en}}
Gilbert died in Manhattan on August 19, 2021. He was 80 years old.{{cite news|title=Rod Gilbert, Hall of Famer for New York Rangers, dies at 80|url=https://apnews.com/article/sports-nhl-canada-new-york-rangers-nyc-state-wire-d084f0d6fee1c09f62c5a3e654e9e398|date=August 23, 2021|access-date=August 23, 2021|work=Associated Press}}
Career statistics
Sources:{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/gilbero01.html|title=Rod Gilbert Stats|work=Hockey-Reference.com|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|access-date=August 23, 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=1903|title=Rod Gilbert Hockey Stats and Profile|work=HockeyDB|publisher=The Internet Hockey Database|access-date=August 23, 2021}}
=Regular season and playoffs=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em" | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Playoffs | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1957–58 | OHA | 32 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 14
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1958–59
| Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters | OHA | 54 | 27 | 34 | 61 | 40
| 10 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 14 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1959–60 | Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters | OHA | 47 | 39 | 52 | 91 | 40
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| 1959–60
| EPHL | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0
| 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1960–61 | OHA | 47 | 54 | 49 | 103 | 47
| 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| 1960–61
| NHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1961–62 | New York Rangers | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
| 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| 1961–62
| EPHL | 21 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 22
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1962–63 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 20
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1963–64
| New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 24 | 40 | 64 | 62
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1964–65 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 25 | 36 | 61 | 54
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1965–66
| New York Rangers | NHL | 34 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 20
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 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 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 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 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 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 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 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 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 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
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1976–77 | New York Rangers | NHL | 77 | 27 | 48 | 75 | 50
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1977–78
| New York Rangers | NHL | 19 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 6
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals ! 1,065 !! 406 !! 615 !! 1,021 !! 510 ! 79 !! 34 !! 33 !! 67 !! 43 |
=International=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" ID="Table3" style="text-align:center; width:40em" | ||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Year ! Team ! Event ! rowspan="102" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM | ||||
| 1972
| Canada | SS | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1977 | Canada | WC | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan=3 | Senior totals ! 15 !! 3 !! 5 !! 8 !! 21 |
Awards and honors
- Named to the NHL second All-Star team (1967–68)
- Named to the NHL first All-Star team (1971–72)
- Won Bill Masterton Trophy (1976)
- Won Lester Patrick Trophy (1991){{cite web|title=Lester Patrick Trophy|url=https://records.nhl.com/awards/trophies/lester-patrick-trophy|accessdate=August 23, 2021|publisher=National Hockey League}}
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1977)
- Inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982
- Has his No. 7 retired at Madison Square Garden, the first Ranger to receive the honor.
- Awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in May 2010, in recognition of his humanitarian efforts.{{cite news|title=Gilbert honored for service to America|url=https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/gilbert-honored-for-service-to-america/c-529076|date=May 13, 2010|accessdate=August 23, 2021|publisher=New York Rangers|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823081724/https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/gilbert-honored-for-service-to-america/c-529076|archivedate=August 23, 2021}}
Records
- New York Rangers team record for career goals (406)
- New York Rangers team record for career points (1021)
- New York Rangers team record for consecutive games with an assist by a forward (10){{cite news|title=Panarin has goal, 2 assists as Rangers handle Caps 5–2|url=https://apnews.com/article/new-york-filip-chytil-new-york-rangers-pavel-buchnevich-nhl-d6fe439eee7f3f1c60f3e356b39994b2|date=March 30, 2021|access-date=August 23, 2021|work=Associated Press}}
- Shares New York Rangers team record for assists in one game (5; three times){{cite news|title=Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Devils 03.04.21|url=https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/pregame-notes-rangers-vs-devils-030421/c-322082722|date=March 4, 2021|accessdate=August 23, 2021|publisher=New York Rangers|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823082803if_/https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/pregame-notes-rangers-vs-devils-030421/c-322082722|archivedate=August 23, 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-18/wayne-hughes-self-storage-titan-and-usc-donor-dead-at-87|title=NHL Roundup – Penguins Beat Rangers to Clinch Playoff Berth|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|agency=Associated Press|date=April 19, 1995|access-date=August 23, 2021}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
- Total Hockey (Second Edition), Editor - Dan Diamond, {{ISBN|1-892129-85-X}}
- Hockey Stars of 1969 by Stan Fischler
- Hockey '75 by Hal Bock
External links
- {{icehockeystats|legendsm=P198202}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050909071648/http://rodgilbert.com/ Rod Gilbert's official web site (archived from 2005)]
{{NHL on USA}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Rod}}
Category:Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy winners
Category:Canadian ice hockey right wingers
Category:Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters players
Category:Guelph Royals players
Category:Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Ice hockey people from Montreal
Category:Lester Patrick Trophy recipients
Category:National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Category:New York Rangers players
Category:Trois-Rivières Lions (EPHL) players
Category:Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States