NEW YORK: Rod Gilbert, the right wing of the Hall of Fame who starred in the New York Rangers and helped Canada win the 1972 Summit Series, has died. He was 80 years old.
Gilbert’s family confirmed the death to the Rangers on Sunday. The team did not provide details.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Gilbert, one of the best Rangers who has ever played in our organization and one of the great ambassadors the hockey game has ever had,” Rangers owner James Dolan said in a statement. .
“While his hits on the ice made him a Hall of Famer rightly so, it was his love for the Rangers and the people of New York that loved him for generations of fans and earned him the title of “Mr. Ranger “.”
From Montreal, Gilbert spent his entire 18-year career in the NHL with the Rangers, a career almost derailed in 1960 when he broke a vertebra in his back after slipping in the trash on the ice while playing. in Guelph to the Junior Ontario Hockey Association. .
Gilbert recovered and finished with 406 goals and 615 assists in 1,065 games of the regular season and 34 goals and 33 assists in 79 playoff games. He holds Rangers records for goals and points. In 1972, he scored one goal and three assists in six games for Canada in his historic eight-game Soviet Union victory in the Summit Series.
Included in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982, Gilbert spent many years in the Rangers organization after his retirement as a player.
“The impact of Rod Gilbert on the National Hockey League and the New York Rangers for the past 62 years has been profound, both on and off the ice,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “As a player, he was revered by his teammates, respected by his opponents and absolutely loved by Rangers fans.”
Gilbert appeared in eight All-Star Games and received the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1976 as an NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”
His No. 7 jersey became the first number ever picked up by the Rangers when he was lifted to the beams of Madison Square Garden on October 14, 1979. In 2007, the League Students Association National Hockey honored Gilbert with the Man of the Year Award.