Gilmour’s Killer, My Life in Hockey a great read

Doug Gilmour has just released his autobiography, called Killer, My Life in Hockey.

It was co-authored by Dan Robson, senior writer at Sportsnet.

Doug ’s career in hockey is as successful and diverse as any former NHL player. He never played a game in the minors, going directing from the Cornwall Royals of the Ontario Hockey League to the NHL St. Louis Blues who drafted him 134th overall in 1982.

Doug’s Hall of Fame career saw him suit up for seven different NHL teams, joining the Toronto Maple Leafs twice. He also played for Rapperswil of the Swiss League for nine games in 1994 when the NHL was on strike.

Doug retired in 2003. That year he was traded by the Montreal Canadiens to Toronto and in his first game returning to the Leafs, severely injured his knee.

Not surprisingly, Doug just barely mentions his legal trouble that coincided with his trade from St. Louis to Calgary. In 1988. Doug was accused of having inappropriate relations with a 13 year old girl. A grand jury refused to indict him. Doug, who maintains he was falsely accused, wrote, “In the process of dealing with the accusations, I was traded to the Calgary Flames.”

The most interesting sections of the book for me were his descriptions of relationships with the many players and coaches he was involved with.

He was given the nickname “Killer” not for the way he played, though he definitely played with an edge, but for his hair. In his rookie year in St. Louis he had what he described as “a big mop of untamed hair.” One day when he took off his helmet after practice, the then captain of the Blues, Brian Sutter, told Doug he looked like the American serial killer Charles Manson. The name stuck.

Doug started hockey as a four year old skating around the ice between periods of games his father coached. He remembers fans cheering as he raced around the ice before the Zamboni came on. Later he dreamed of being like his brother Dave, 13 years older, who played for the Junior A Peterborough Petes and later minor pro.

Doug was drafted in the third round to the Cornwall Royals in 1980, then a member of the Quebec League. They joined the OHL in his second year of junior.

In 1982 he was the St. Louis Blues fourth pick in the NHL Entry Draft. He made the team in training camp mainly as a defensive forward.

On all his teams Doug was the practical joker. He tells of many of the tricks he played on unsuspecting teammates, coaches, even an owner. Late in his career he started using the composite sticks, used by today’s players. He saw the owner of his team in the dressing room. The shafts of these sticks are hollow. He filled his with water and went to the owner complaining the sticks the team had were too heavy. The owner took his stick, agreed then tipped it up to look down the shaft. He was drenched, but fortunately for Gilmour, he laughed it off.

In 2000 Doug was with the Buffalo Sabres. In those days scouts coached the training camp teams. He was on my team. All camp games ended with a shootout, regardless of the score. I asked Doug who I should select to shoot. “Not me,” he said, “how about the kids?” So I used junior draft players. We won the camp championship. Years later when he was coaching the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL I asked him if he was following the advice he gave me. He smiled.

Killer is a good hockey read with plenty of humourous incidents. Don Barrie is a retired teacher, a former Buffalo Sabres scout and a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame. HIs column appears each Saturday in The Examiner.