Gilbert was best when Bruins needed him most
Gilles Gilbert joined the Bruins at the back end of their glorious, captivating run in the 1960s and ’70s, on the heels of the franchise’s two Cup wins (’70 and ’72), and submitted possibly the most dazzling performance of his career in the painful OT loss to the Canadiens in the legendary “too many men” playoff game at the Forum in ’79.
“Fun . . . smiles . . . incredibly talented . . . athletic . . . ” mused Mike Milbury, recalling Gilbert’s run here that began in ’73 when he was acquired from the North Stars for Fred Stanfield,
“... brilliant in so many ways.”
Gilbert, who partnered in the Bruins net late in the ’70s when Gerry Cheevers returned from the WHA, died last weekend in Quebec after a brief battle with cancer. He was 74.
“Fun guy . . . and you know, he was a terrific goaltender,” recalled Cheevers, reached at his home in Florida. “Athletically, he was probably the best the Bruins have had . . . loved the game. I truly enjoyed playing with him.”
Gilbert, then 28, took over the Boston net for Game 3 of the Habs series in ‘79, coach Don Cherry reluctant to pull Cheevers after back-to-back losses. Rumors at the time were that Cheevers, who backed the Cup wins in ‘70 and
‘72, was hindered by an injury incurred in Games 1 or 2.
“Not important,” said Cheevers, who watched from the bench as Gilbert backed the Bruins all the way to Game 7 in the semifinal series. “Gilles was in there because he deserved to be there
. . . and he was sensational.”
Gilbert finished with 47 saves on a night when the Flying Frenchmen rolled up a 52-30 shot edge at the crazed Forum, faithful fans of Les Glorieux making the rafters shake. Rick Middleton’s goal at 16:01 of the third period provided a 4-3 lead and it looked as if the Bruins finally would shoo the Forum ghosts and dump the Habs in the playoffs for the first time since
1943.
Until...
With 2:34 to go, and the bench caught up in the emotion, the Bruins were called for a blatant too-manymen-on-the-ice infraction. Only 1:20 into the power play, Guy Lafleur trailed into a drop pass by Jacques Lemaire
and ripped a blazing slapper by Gilbert from right wing. Up on his feet and out of his crease to take away the angle, the classic style of the day, Gilbert tumbled backward in a heap like a felled bull.
“I can still hear it hitting the iron as it went in,” said Milbury, when reached at his home on the Cape, kidding when he added, “Did you really have to call me?”
The kill shot came with 9:33 gone in overtime, Yvon Lambert finishing in front off a feed from Mario Tremblay.
Habs, 5-4. The Bruins went home (the last game Cherry coached for the Black and Gold) and the Habs, backed by Ken Dryden, went on to beat the Rangers in the Final for their fourth consecutive Cup win.
In Gilbert’s years here, noted Milbury, he admired not only the goalie’s talent and compete level, but his ability to thrive despite a quirky relationship with Cherry. The coach, said Milbury, made it hard on Gilbert, at times unfairly scapegoating him.
“Things were changing . . . it was a different era, right? Hell, I was an American playing in the league, and who thought that would ever happen?” said Milbury. “But at a critical moment in that series, down 2-0, Grapes pulled the chord. And he didn’t like Gilles . . . didn’t like his attitude . . . didn’t like a guy who came to the rink who was happy-go-lucky, a different mind-set. But Grapes, you have to give him credit, he made a tough decision to go from Cheevers to Gilbert and it was the best decision he ever made as a coach. We stretched it to seven, and came within what seemed a millisecond of a triumph.”
A handful of those 47 saves were “spectacular,” recalled Milbury.
“Not like the butterfly goalies of today, who stand there and let it hit them,” he noted. “These were the oldtimers, stand up, cut the angle . . . you know, kick save and a beauty? He made some beautiful saves that night.”
Per reports of the day, Gilbert in the spring of ‘73 was on the verge of leaving the North Stars as a free agent and signing with the Los Angeles Sharks of the rival WHA. Minnesota GM Wren Blair
— who years earlier helped the Bruins sign teen prospect Bobby Orr — risked seeing his prized prospect depart and receive nothing in return.
“It’s the old story,” lamented Blair, according to then-Globe scribe Kevin Walsh. “If you have a can of peas sitting on the shelf that’s selling for 21 cents, and you aren’t moving them, then you better mark it down to 16 cents and move it and try to get something for it.”
Bruins GM Harry Sinden canned the goods, dealing the trusty Stanfield — once part of the legendary swap with Chicago that included Phil Esposito — to the North Stars and signing Gilbert to a long-term deal that the goalie said he felt was too good to refuse. Stanfield, who had four years remaining on the no-trade pact he signed a year earlier with the Bruins, swapped that out for a new six-year deal and pay increase that reportedly made him the highest-paid player in North Stars history.
Gilbert, 24 at the time, took residence as the Bruins goalie of the future. Cheevers, 32, had just wrapped up his first season with the WHA’s Cleveland Crusaders, recording a career-high 32 wins. The Gilbert-Cheevers tandem would not come into existence until Gilbert’s third season, when Cheevers forced his way out of Cleveland in a pay dispute and returned to the Bruins in January ’76.
Gilbert’s arrival here in May ’73 also marked the end of Eddie Johnston’s 11year tenure in the Bruins net, which began well before the arrival of Orr. Johnston, 37, landed in Toronto — the player to be named later for the Bruins that spring acquiring legendary tender Jacques Plante, then 44, for what turned out to be a short playoff run. As it turned out, Plante’s final NHL days were spent with the Bruins. He played one more season with the WHA Oilers, then retired.
Gilbert was here for seven seasons, rolled up a record of 155-73-39, prior to Sinden dealing him to Red Wings on July 15, 1980 for Rogie Vachon. Cheevers, named the club’s new coach that summer after the failed Fred Creighton experiment, entered the 1980-81 season with Vachon and ’80 Olympic hero Jim Craig as his goalie tandem.
Gilbert spent three seasons with the Dead Wings, went 21-48-16, and called it a career at age 34 following his final game in the spring of ’83.
“He was a joy . . . bubbly . . . effervescent,” said Milbury, who years later, as GM of the Islanders, briefly employed Gilbert as the club’s goalie coach. “And on top of that he was incredibly athletic and competitive. When that guy was in the net, he was wired up and wanted to win as much as anyone in the game.’”