A 20-year NHL journey
Gilmour recounts overcoming size obstacle in his new memoir
For a guy nicknamed Killer it was Doug Gilmour’s heart which elevated an under-sized kid to the top of the hockey world.
There is plenty of heart in the retired NHL star’s new memoir
published by HarperCollins and co-written by Dan Robson.
The book goes on sale Tuesday and onThursdayfrom7to8p.m.Gilmour will be at the Peterborough Chapters to sign copies of the book.
Gilmour dedicated it to his parents Don and Joan, everyone called her Dolly, Gilmour says. The timing of the release is emotional for Gilmour as Dolly died last week. His father died five years ago.
“She didn’t get to see it,” said Gilmour, who ends the book with a story related to his father. “It was great to talk about but it was hard. They were the ones who gave me the opportunity to play.”
Gilmour grew up in an era when it was tough for a small player to make his way to the NHL. The game was more physical and the clutch-andgrab style lent itself to bigger players. Gilmour was the 134th overall pick in his NHL draft year.
“There were a lot of naysayers especially with my size,” Gilmour said. It started in minor hockey. “I’d go home and say ‘Screw them.’ I’m going to prove everybody wrong. That was my upbringing in Kingston. My dad made sure I worked hard every single day. It wasn’t about getting points, it was your work ethic.” It was a tough era to play in. “Going into a game I was looking at who I was playing against on defence. For example, playing in Chicago I knew Chelios is going to try to take me out, Marchment is going to go low on me and Steve Smith is going to take my head off,” he said. “You’re not scared but mentally you had to prepare yourself for who you were playing against.”
There are stories of the highs and lows but Gilmour tried to be revealing while also respectful to those in the game.
“There is nothing in there anybody should be mad at,” he said.
It was a long process “a year and a half of my life I’ll never get back,” he said, with a laugh, but also enjoyable.
“There was a lot of reminiscing. When Dan Robson spoke to other people there were a lot of stories I had forgot about .... It brought back some great memories and some that kind of sucked but, at the same time, it was part of my 20-year journey in the NHL.”
One of the tougher moments was being traded from the Calgary Flames where he’d won a Stanley Cup. He went through a bitter arbitration hearing with Calgary trying to work out a contract.
He was in an adjoining hotel room when Flames general manager Doug Risebrough was in the arbitration hearing and the things he heard Doug Gilmour with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gilmour will be signing copies of his new book Killer: My Life in Hockey at Chapters Peterborough next Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. throughthedoormadehimrealizehis days in Calgary were done regardless of the outcome of the hearing.
“It was hard to leave because I loved my teammates there. At the same time, it was inevitable that I was going whether that was after the arbitration that he didn’t like me. Doug and I competed against each other on the ice and didn’t like each other but you get off the ice and you kind of put the feelings aside,” Gilmour said.
“We had a pretty good hockey club there. Not a dynasty but in our eyes we felt pretty close to it with Al MacInnis and Theo Fleury coming in. You read in the book how it was dismantled.”
His trade to Toronto led to some of his greatest performances and memories.
“Being from Kingston and having the opportunity to play for the Leafs, my brother had played junior with Darryl Sittler and Dan Maloney, and just the history of it alone. We all watched Hockey Night In Canada growing up as kids. The timing was phenomenal.
“It was a fun team. That was one of Pat Burns’s favourite teams. We were all friends. Pat’s disposition was as that cop who was tough and mean and you weren’t going to get anything by him and that’s how it was. At the same time, he pushed us in the best way possible and got the best out of us.”
Gilmour lived in an apartment 10 metres from Maple Leaf Gardens and he could feel the energy in the city during their 1993 playoff run.
“It was electric with the Blue Jays going on and our team doing so well. My parents, came up every weekend and spent time with me. It was so electric and it’s coming back. You can tell with these young players and the skill they have.”
He relives the infamous high stick he took from Wayne Gretzky in Game 7 of the Leafs’ semifinal series against the Los Angeles Kings. Instead of being in the penalty box, Gretzky, who was not penalized, helped the Kings get the winning goal ending Toronto’s dream of facing the Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup.
“(Referee) Kerry (Fraser) didn’t see it and if the linesman called it then it was a five-minute penalty and game misconduct. It’s too bad they couldn’t have just said to Kerry ‘Pretend you saw it’ and he could have given him a two-minute penalty but it didn’t happen that way. Gretz and I have known each other a long time and I tried to copy his path. When he started setting up behind the net, I wanted to do the same. I have a lot of respect for him. It was something that happened but it was not on purpose, obviously. We don’t say too much about it. He was the best player I ever played against.”
Gilmour tells a few tales of mistakes he made as a young player which got him in trouble.
“I’m a human being. We all do stupid things at different times,” he said. “You learn by it.” 2:00 pm., SPCSS @ HHSS (jr/sr) 3:00 p.m., FFSS @ KCVI (jr) 6:00 p.m., ASCVI @ TASSS (jr/sr) 3:00 p.m., SMCSS @ TASSS (sr/jr); CCI @ HCCSS (sr/jr); IEW @ LCVI (sr) 4:00 p.m., IEW @ ASCVI (jr) 8:30 a.m., Swimming, Trent Swim Club hosts the Pro-Tech Pool and Spa Meet, Allan Marshall Pool Trent Athletics Centre 11:00 a.m., OCAA women's Soccer, Seneca Sting vs. Fleming Knights, Fleming Sports Field Complex 1:00 p.m., OUA Women's Soccer, Ottawa Gee Gees vs. Trent Excalibur, Justin Chiu Stadium 1:00 p.m., OCAA Men's Soccer, Seneca Sting vs. Fleming Knights, Fleming Sports Field Complex 1:30 p.m., Mann Cup Parade, Peterborough Century 21 Lakers Parade from City Hall to Del Crary Park 3:15 p.m., OUA Men's Soccer, Queen's Gaels vs. Trent Excalibur, Justin Chiu Stadium 4:00 p.m., OCAA Men's Rugby, Loyalist Lancers vs. Fleming Knights, Fleming Sports Field Complex 4:05 p.m., OHL Hockey, Sudbury Wolves vs. Peterborough Petes, Memorial Centre 6:00 p.m., OUA Men's Rugby, Guelph Gryphons vs. Trent Excalibur, Justin Chiu Stadium