His number 7 was retired by the Rangers on October 14, 1979.Īfter retiring from professional hockey, Gilbert opened his own restaurant 'Gilbert's' on Third Avenue near 75th street in Manhattan. He retired after 19 seasons, having never led the Rangers to a Stanley Cup. When Gilbert finally returned to play, he was no longer the Gilbert of old. He won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1976 for his perseverance regarding his back troubles.Īt the beginning of the 1977–78 NHL season, Gilbert and Rangers' General Manager John Ferguson got into a contract dispute. He was with Team Canada when they took on the Soviets in the 1972 Summit Series. The Ratelle-Hadfield-Gilbert line, called the GAG (Goal-A-Game) line, would terrorize enemy goaltenders for years. On February 24, 1968, he established himself as a bona fide NHL star as he scored four goals in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. He lost half a season, but he bounced back with a strong season in 1966–1967. In 1965–66, his career was nearly derailed when he went through a second spinal fusion operation. 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. Gilbert started his career with the Rangers after finishing his junior career with the Guelph Royals during the 1960–61 season. He broke the fifth vertebra in his back and doctors were worried they might have to amputate his legs when blood clots ensued. Playing career ĭuring the 1959–60 OHA season, he slipped on some garbage strewn onto the ice and fell back into the boards. Corrective surgery went awry and led to hemorrhaging in his leg, and doctors feared amputation would be necessary, but Gilbert recovered. 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. He played three seasons for the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1957 to 1960. He grew up a fan of the Montreal Canadiens. Gilbert was born in Montreal on July 1, 1941.
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