Gainey, Allan named to Ontario hall
Hockey and lacrosse greats will be inducted to Ontario Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 2
Peterborough natives Bob Gainey and Bob Allan were named Monday as two of the six 2017 inductees into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
The Toronto-based Ontario Sports Hall of Fame honours athletes and personalities for outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario.
Gainey and Allen will be honoured at the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame 2017 Induction Ceremony and Awards Gala in Toronto at The Westin Harbour Castle’s Metropolitan Ballroom on Oct. 2.
Also in the Class of 2017 are: hockey player Paul Coffey, harness racer John Campbell, rower Marnie McBean and baseball player John Hiller.
The ceremony will also see presentations of the Syl Apps Ontario Athlete of the Year Award to Olympic teen swimming sensation Penny Oleksiak (Peterborough native Brad Sinopoli of the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks won that award last year), The Prentice Family Legacy Award to The Queen’s Plate, the Sandy Hawley Community Service Award to former WWE wrestler and yoga studio operator Trish Stratus and the Brian Williams Media Award to Howard Starkman.
Gainey began his hockey career with his hometown Peterborough Petes in the OHL in 1972. He went on to become a defensive forward specialist for the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens from the 1973-74 to 1988-89, playing in 1,160 regular season games, scored 239 goals and registered 263 assists.
He also won gold with Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup and bronze with Canada’s 1982 and 1983 world championship teams.
He was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.
After retiring as a player, he went on to become a head coach and general manager with the Canadiens, the Minnesota North Stars and the Dallas Stars.
Allan won Mann Cups as a player twice with Peterborough in 1954 and 1966 in addition to two other times with teams in B.C. He later coached Peterborough to the 1973 Mann Cup.
He’s already a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame.
Allan continues as an adviser to the MSL Peterborough Lakers board of directors.
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Citations Bob Gainey
Here is the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame’s citation for Bob Gainey:
Robert Michael “Bob” “Le Capitaine” Gainey is the former executive vice president and general manager of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. He is also a former professional ice hockey player who played for the Canadiens from 1973 until 1989.
He was a cornerstone of the Montreal dynasty between 1976 and 1979, when the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup four consecutive times, and later their captain for eight years, including in 1985-86, when they recaptured the Cup. But Gainey was hardly a prolific scorer -- he finished with 239 goals and 501 points in 1,160 NHL games. What he did better than any forward of his generation was stop the opposition’s prolific scorers.
At age 24 in 1977-78, his fourth full NHL season, Gainey was the first recipient of the Frank Selke Trophy, given to the League’s top defensive forward. He won the next three as well, and is the only four-time Selke winner. Had the award been around earlier, he might have won six or seven straight. Then he was runner-up in 1981-82 and remained a top 10 vote-getter for the next four seasons.
After retiring from active play, he became a hockey coach and later an executive with the NHL Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars organization before returning to Montreal as general manager from 2003 to 2010. He is currently a team consultant for the St. Louis Blues. Gainey was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.
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Bob Allan
Here is the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame’s citation for Bob Allan:
In his heyday, Bobby Allan was in a class by himself, the finest lacrosse player in Canada. His consummate skill, agility and adroitness in faking a move made him one-of-a-kind. His backhand shot was a prototype move.
Allan won three scoring titles, three league MVP awards, and the Mike Kelly Award. His record of 89 goals in 29 games in 1956, in British Columbia, still stands. He played on four Mann Cup championship teams and another four Mann Cup finalists. The Mann Cup championship teams were Peterborough in 1954, Nanaimo, B.C., in 1956, New Westminster, B.C., in 1962 and in Peterborough again in 1966.
Later Bob moved into coaching, first with box lacrosse teams in Peterborough and Philadelphia, Pa., and then as head coach of the Canadian National Field Lacrosse Team. His Peterborough teams won a Canadian Semi-Pro Title in 1969, a Mann Cup in 1973, and were Mann Cup finalists in 1970. His Canadian National Field team won the world championship in 1970 in Manchester, England. Bob was elected to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1974.