Gilbert carried team with pride, grace
During the lowest points of their 54-year Stanley Cup drought up to 1994, the New York Rangers always had Rod Gilbert.
On the ice, where he carved a Hall of Fame career through 18 seasons and two back surgeries, and off it, where he kept the hockey flame burning on Broadway. Gilbert died late Sunday, not long after his 80th birthday.
“That title, Mr. Ranger, he took it seriously,” fellow team ambassador Ron Duguay told the New York Post. “You’d see him in suite visits and walking in the aisles, he’d stop for everyone who wanted a picture or an autograph. He absolutely loved it, and the fans adored him. And he never got tired of any of it. That’s just who he was.
“There was no one better at representing (Madison Square) Garden, the franchise, the brand and representing all of us. The first time I walked into the Garden to sign my contract, he was the first man to meet me. And he took me out that night, too, kind of a celebration, the beginning of a long relationship.”
The Montreal-born Gilbert was an instant hit in the Big Apple in the early 1960s, a star with their Ontario minor affiliate, the Guelph Biltmores. Right winger on the Goal-a-game (GAG) Line with Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield, the eight-time all-star was the franchise’s leader in goals (406), points (1,021) and the first Ranger to have his number (7) retired at MSG.
The closest Gilbert got to the Cup was losing the 1972 final to Boston in six games, though later that year he helped Team Canada beat the Soviets in the Summit Series. In 1960, his final season with Guelph, Gilbert’s skate slipped on some garbage that fans had tossed on the ice, sending him tumbling into the boards, snapping a vertebra in his back and temporarily paralyzing him.
He needed delicate spinal fusion surgery and again in 1965. Gilbert had a career-best 43 goals and 97 points in 1971-72 and four years later won the Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication to hockey.
“I would loved to have played on a Cup winner,” Gilbert once said. “But I had my share of thrills and in a lot of ways, I was very lucky, considering my dream of making the NHL and being able to do what I did with all those back problems.”
Madison Square Garden Sports executive chairman James Dolan said in a statement: “I am deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Gilbert — one of the greatest Rangers to ever play for our organization and one of the greatest ambassadors the game of hockey has ever had.
“While his on-ice achievements rightly made him a Hall of Famer, it was his love for the Rangers and the people of New York that endeared him to generations of fans and forever earned him the title, ‘Mr. Ranger.’ Our thoughts are with Rod’s wife, Judy, and the entire Gilbert family during this difficult time. They will always be a part of the Rangers family.”