Gilles Gilbert

Canadian ice hockey player (1949–2023)

Gilles Gilbert (March 31, 1949 – August 6, 2023) was a Canadian professional goaltender in ice hockey who was drafted in the third round of the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft from the London Knights. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota North Stars and Detroit Red Wings, but most notably for the Boston Bruins.

Gilbert played in the 1961 Quebec International Pee Wee Hockey Tournament with the junior Quebec Aces. Gilbert played in the NHL between 1969 and 1983 and retired with a 3.27 goals against average. In net for the Minnesota North Stars, he surrendered Jean Beliveau's 500th career goal on February 11, 1971. In 1973 74, he was traded to the Bruins as a replacement for Gerry Cheevers who had gone to the World Hockey Association (WHA), played in the NHL All Star Game, and helped the team to the Stanley Cup finals that year. The Bruins lost the Finals series 4 2 to the Philadelphia Flyers, but over these six games Gilbert played as brilliantly as his opposing counterpart Bernie Parent who was named playoff MVP. In the 1975–76 NHL season, Gilbert set the NHL record for most consecutive wins by a goaltender with 17, and finished with a 33 8 10 record for a .843 winning percentage in 55 games. From 1976 to 1980, he teamed with Gerry Cheevers to form one of the best goaltending duos in the NHL, being runners up for the Vezina Trophy in 1980. Gilbert recorded 17 playoff victories for Boston. As of 2019 he ranks sixth in all time playoff wins among Boston goaltenders. Gilbert was the Bruins goalie during the 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs semifinal game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens, when Guy Lafleur tied the game after the infamous too many men penalty against Boston, and then Yvon Lambert scored the series winning goal in overtime; Gilbert was still named the game's first star. Cheevers was benched after losing the first two games of the series, and Gilbert took over as the starter thereafter, overall being named the game's first star three times in the five games against Montreal. Montreal's Steve Shutt exclaimed of these performances that “Gilles Gilbert stood on his head. He was the reason they got to the seventh game”. Gilbert was in net for Detroit on February 11, 1982, when the Vancouver Canucks became the first team with two successful penalty shots in the same game, as Thomas Gradin and Ivan Hlinka scored for the Canucks in the third period of a 4 4 tie.

Gilbert was a pro scout and goaltending coach for the New York Islanders from 1996 to 2001.

Gilles Gilbert latterly resided in Quebec City. He died on August 6, 2023, at the age of 74.

Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1966–67 Trois Rivières Reds QJHL 43 23 18 2 2540 188 1 4.44 — 14 9 5 850 65 0 4.59 — 1966–67 Thetford Mines Canadiens M Cup — — — — — — — — — 5 3 1 276 18 0 3.91 — 1967–68 Trois Rivières Reds QJHL — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1968–69 London Knights OHA Jr. 37 — — — 2200 167 1 4.55 — — — — — — — — — 1969–70 Iowa Stars CHL 39 17 16 5 2340 127 2 3.26 — 4 2 2 245 14 0 3.43 — 1969–70 Minnesota North Stars NHL 1 0 1 0 60 6 0 6.00 .846 — — — — — — — — 1970–71 Minnesota North Stars NHL 17 5 9 2 931 59 0 3.80 .889 — — — — — — — — 1971–72 Minnesota North Stars NHL 4 1 2 1 218 11 0 3.03 .891 — — — — — — — — 1971–72 Cleveland Barons AHL 41 20 15 5 2319 140 2 3.62 — 4 1 2 187 18 0 5.78 — 1972–73 Minnesota North Stars NHL 22 10 10 2 1320 67 2 3.05 .904 1 0 1 60 4 0 4.00 .900 1973–74 Boston Bruins NHL 54 34 12 8 3210 158 6 2.95 .900 16 10 6 977 43 1 2.64 .912 1974–75 Boston Bruins NHL 53 23 17 11 3029 158 3 3.13 .893 3 1 2 188 12 0 3.83 .859 1975–76 Boston Bruins NHL 55 33 8 10 3123 151 3 2.90 .887 6 3 3 360 19 2 3.17 .868 1976–77 Boston Bruins NHL 34 18 13 3 2040 97 1 2.85 .884 1 0 1 20 3 0 9.00 .571 1977–78 Boston Bruins NHL 25 15 6 2 1326 56 2 2.53 .885 — — — — — — — — 1978–79 Boston Bruins NHL 23 12 8 2 1254 74 0 3.54 .869 5 3 2 314 16 0 3.06 .901 1979–80 Boston Bruins NHL 33 20 9 3 1933 88 1 2.73 .890 — — — — — — — — 1980–81 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 11 24 9 2618 175 0 4.01 .866 — — — — — — — — 1981–82 Detroit Red Wings NHL 27 6 10 6 1478 105 0 4.26 .849 — — — — — — — — 1982–83 Detroit Red Wings NHL 20 4 14 1 1137 85 0 4.49 .850 — — — — — — — — 1982–83 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 4 3 0 0 198 11 0 3.33 .890 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 416 192 143 60 23677 1290 18 3.27 .883 32 17 15 1919 97 3 3.03 .895