Rod Gilbert: How good was he?

[Normand Lacombe]

I don't see Gilbert's name mentioned here a lot. Only know him as a member of the GAG Line with Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle before I was born, so I never saw Gilbert play. For those that saw him play, how good was Gilbert? What current player would you compare Gilbert to?

 

[Canadiens1958]

I don't see Gilbert's name mentioned here a lot. Only know him as a member of the GAG Line with Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle before I was born, so I never saw Gilbert play. For those that saw him play, how good was Gilbert? What current player would you compare Gilbert to?

One of the first players to play in the NHL following spinal surgery (two spinal fusions).

Rod Gilbert - Wikipedia

Amongst contemporaries, slightly behind Yvan Cournoyer who had a career ending back condition.

Modern, a more involved Phil Kessell, better skater, better shot, better shape, better defensively.

 

[Howie Hodge]

Nice player who would have been a nice addition to any team.

Interestingly, Rod put up the four most productive seasons of his career after he'd turned 30. (And five of his best six seasons)

Certainly not common for a player of his ability to do that.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

he's not a guy i saw play but i did a little digging on him during the HOH top wingers project, because his historical reputation as mr. ranger didn't seem to correspond to what he actually did. here are two posts—

according to this article from the montreal gazette, gilbert suffered a pinched nerve and transitioned from a goal scorer to a playmaker during the '73 season.

The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search

his assist numbers pre-'73 don't corroborate, obviously. but where did we land on whether he played point on the PP? i ask because by reputation gilbert wasn't a playmaking winger, and reading about him i always read about him being primarily a shooter. see, for example, descriptions of him from old time rangers fans in this thread: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=667739

in the book titans of '72 gilbert is grouped as a "sharpshooter" (along with redmond, hull, goldsworthy), not a "playmaker" (mikita, ratelle, clarke, berenson). https://books.google.ca/books?id=Uj5Ty7_X5ncC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq="rod+gilbert"+playmaker&source=bl&ots=KuC8Tef1G4&sig=6F0KG-DPf2tUv1KPHQBAPjrw6R0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OmCXVNbmIs63yASfqIGoAw&ved=0CE8Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q="rod gilbert" playmaker&f=false

and here's gilbert himself on the GAG line:

"Jean was the playmaker and he was so smart," Gilbert says. "He would place the puck in an area where I just had to come into it and fire it."

http://thehockeywriters.com/rod-gilbert-mr-ranger/


i don't know. can anyone reconcile gilbert's reputation as a shooter with his very good assist numbers? either way, i'm very surprised at how little consideration the true great playmaker left, olmstead, is getting from my cursory read through of the conversation. seems to be getting the lemaire/cournoyer treatment, but worse. if it were me, he would be getting the same bonus points for being a unique player that gainey, fleury, and neely would get.


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switching gears, that gazette article article also strongly hints at gilbert's reputation as a guy who, let's say, might have been fleury-in-ny before fleury-in-ny, minus the psychological demons of course.

maybe the suggestion upthread about comparing gilbert to fleury and fleury having detrimental intangibles came and passed and doesn't need to be taken on, but that this is a star player coming off his career year and his team's only successful playoff run during his tenure, and still at age 32, after 10 years in the league, they're still talking about "a new rod gilbert" who presumably is no longer just looking forward to golfing in april.

rod gilbert: for the majority of his career, there was non-stop innuendo and whispers about his life off the ice affecting his on-ice dedication, and that his proto-jeter ways were contributing to the rangers' annual early playoff exits.

that article i posted yesterday about gilbert says so much about him: he's 32, coming off the best season of his career, coming off his team's only successful playoff run, he's been in the league for a decade, and his coach of the previous 7 years is still talking about "this is the year rod gilbert is going to get serious about hockey."

and just to contextualize rod gilbert a little bit: his reputation as "mr. ranger" is so different from what he actually did there. they treat him like he's john bucyk, but his coach has said "i wouldn't make rod gilbert captain if he was the only guy on the team." real talk: it's new york, it's the early 70s, racial tensions are high (we've all seen the spike lee movies), the knicks have just won two titles in three years on the heroics of willis reed and clyde frazier, and it really looks for all the world like that city wanted to make rod gilbert their white clyde frazier, in the way that boston made larry bird their white bill russell in the '80s. you know: blood and guts hero but without the civil rights "baggage." but buddy, rod gilbert was not clyde frazier in any way except in the night clubs, and he certainly was not larry bird. it's like they invented a gilmour-type intangibles-flowing-through-his-veins hero out of a HOVG player with a HOF face.

rod gilbert, handsome dude

 

[wetcoast]

One of the first players to play in the NHL following spinal surgery (two spinal fusions).

Rod Gilbert - Wikipedia

Amongst contemporaries, slightly behind Yvan Cournoyer who had a career ending back condition.

Modern, a more involved Phil Kessell, better skater, better shot, better shape, better defensively.

Rod was a very good player and sure he was better defensivey(who isn't) but really a better shot and skater?

That's extremely debatable.

 

[wetcoast]

Nice player who would have been a nice addition to any team.

Interestingly, Rod put up the four most productive seasons of his career after he'd turned 30. (And five of his best six seasons)

Certainly not common for a player of his ability to do that.

Ironically Jean Ratelle was a better player on the other side of 30 as well.

Might have something to do with the watered down 70s NHL?

 

[Canadiens1958]

1960s spinal fusion surgery required recovery time that was longer than other injuries so age comparables have to weigh this.

 

[seventieslord]

Nice player who would have been a nice addition to any team.

Interestingly, Rod put up the four most productive seasons of his career after he'd turned 30. (And five of his best six seasons)

Certainly not common for a player of his ability to do that.

League scoring went up late in his career. His five best seasons, the ones where he was a top-10 NHL scorer, were achieved at ages 22, 23, 26, 30, and 33. put that way, it doesn't look all that uncommon.

 

[pbgoalie]

Up and down the right side of the ice.
He was very popular with the fans in New York.
Go out to dinner with Rod and it was non stop attention.

My experiences (I was a kid)....he was a great guy, friendly, funny.
Yes, he loved golf!

Great slap shot coming down the wing. Wasn’t a big guy, but played pretty tough imo.
No sure I’d agree on Kessel comparison. Tough to compare to this day and age. Those Rangers were pretty old school, up and down your lanes.
The GAG line was pretty amazing night in night out though

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

That 60s-70s Emile Francis-Jean Ratelle-Brad Park Rangers were basically the equivalent of the contemporary Doug Wilson-Joe Thornton-Brent Burns Sharks: one of the most talented & competitive teams in the league that ultimately couldn't do the job come playoff time. Every year the question was, is this the Rangers year? & after every playoff failure, the dedication & commitment of the players was called into question, with Ratelle basically carrying the same albatross around his neck as Thornton (& I guess Gilbert was roughly = Joe Pavelski). Fans back in the day had a very similar perception of the Rangers as they do the Sharks now, you sort of hear all the same things. Park was supposed to become for the Rangers what Denis Potvin later became for the Islanders, but he fell far short of the mark (I always thought it quite the irony that Ratelle & Park were bounced from the 79 semis while Esposito & Vadnais led the Rangers to the Finals). Not being a Rangers fan, I never understood why he was "Mr. Ranger" & so beloved by the fans, he didn't seem to be a particularly special player in an era when stars were pretty innovative & really standing out, & I consider him one of the weaker HOF inductions, almost like they put him in mostly because he was "Mr. Ranger."

 

[Finster8]

Gilbert falls in the same category as Mickey Redmond, Richard Martin as prolific goal scorers with great players Dionne, Perreault, and Ratelle getting most of the attention. Marner as a comparable.

 

[reckoning]

It was a sad ending to his career. John Ferguson just didn't want Gilbert anymore and released him. Most Hall of Famers aren't shoved out the door like that.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Gilbert falls in the same category as Mickey Redmond, Richard Martin as prolific goal scorers with great players Dionne, Perreault, and Ratelle getting most of the attention. Marner as a comparable.

bill barber vs rod gilbert, that’s a valid question right?

 

[Finster8]

bill barber vs rod gilbert, that’s a valid question right?

I would have to agree, Barber has similar numbers.

 

[VanIslander]

Gilbert was twice 5th in NHL points and was rewarded with 1st & 2nd team honors those seasons.

Other than that:

Goals 4th, 8th, 9th, 10th
Assists 6th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 9th

Meh.

One time his Rangers went to the Stanley Cup Finals and he could do no better than 3rd in team scoring, behind Rousseau and Hadfield (center Ratelle's injury earlier in the playoffs seen as the reason they couldn't win the cup).

But he was the only Canadian to fight a Soviet in the 1972 Summit Series (tourney held the September after his only 1st team all star) and he scored a goal in the 4-3 Game 7 victory and assisted with Ratelle on a goal in the 6-5 Game 8 victory.

And he was part of the GAG line, one of the most prolific scoring lines ever, the sum greater than the parts.

How good was he?

Not as good as Iginla or Hossa, but perhaps better than Alfredsson and/or Elias.

 

[tony d]

A player I've always liked, should def get more mention around here for sure.

 

[Bluesguru]

Only seen Gilbert on YouTube games but he is smooth and talented with an exceptional slap shot. A real pro and a high end talent. I’ll use DeBrincat as a comparison. I think if Gilbert played today he’d really have that shot fine tuned. He had a quick release.

 

[Big Phil]

Sometimes Gilbert gets unfairly tagged as a guy who didn't produce until expansion but this is not true. He was a top 10 scorer twice in the original 6 era on a poor team. So he is more than just the GAG line. Is in the HHOF without much complaints as far as I know. Not a prolific playoff career, but still managed almost a PPG in his career in the regular season. Produced well in his older age too. The back injury actually happened when a fan through some debris on the ice and Gilbert slipped on it. Terrible way to almost have your career derailed.

Thought he did well on Canada in 1972 also when it counted.

Traditionally thought to be behind his old pal Ratelle on an all-time list, which I think is correct. Gilbert excelled a bit more in the original 6 but Ratelle produced more afterwards. Starting in 1967 he basically produced year after year until he retired and to a lesser extent so did Gilbert. Someone said he was a better version of Phil Kessel and I would agree. No way Kessel is on my team over Gilbert.

 

[BobbyAwe]

bill barber vs rod gilbert, that’s a valid question right?

Bobby Orr said that Barber had the "most accurate wrist shot I ever saw" - that's saying something! I'm pretty sure Gilbert was a faster skater than Barber, so they were probably pretty equivalent, with each one being better in some categories?

 

[Marotte Marauder]

Someone said he was a better version of Phil Kessel and I would agree. No way Kessel is on my team over Gilbert.

100%

 

[Big Phil]

Bobby Orr said that Barber had the "most accurate wrist shot I ever saw" - that's saying something! I'm pretty sure Gilbert was a faster skater than Barber, so they were probably pretty equivalent, with each one being better in some categories?

Barber perhaps the better goal scorer?

Either way, that Orr quote if I recall was made after Game 3 or 4 of the 1974 Cup final after Barber picked up a puck off the boards and wristed a howitzer past Gilles Gilbert. It was the winning goal eventually that game. I've tried to look for that goal but can't find it.

 

[FerrisRox]

bill barber vs rod gilbert, that’s a valid question right?

I would easily take Gilbert.