Rod Gilbert, the Montreal-born Hall of Fame forward and adopted son of New York fondly known as Mr. Ranger, has died, the team announced Sunday. He was 80.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Gilbert — one of the greatest Rangers to ever play for our organization and one of the greatest ambassadors the game of hockey has ever had,” Madison Square Garden executive chairman and Rangers owner James Dolan said in a statement. “While his on-ice achievements rightly made him a Hall of Famer, it was his love for the Rangers and the people of New York that endeared him to generations of fans and forever earned him the title, ‘Mr. Ranger.’ Our thoughts are with Rod’s wife, Judy, and the entire Gilbert family during this difficult time. They will always be a part of the Rangers family.”
Gilbert, the franchise’s all-time leader in goals (406) and points (1,021) and the first NHL player to have his jersey (No. 7) retired at Madison Square Garden, spent his entire 18-year career in a starring role for the Blueshirts from 1960-78.
The eight-time All-Star played right wing on the Rangers’ famed GAG line (Goal-a-Game) alongside left wing Vic Hadfield and center Jean Ratelle. That unit led the Rangers to an appearance in the 1972 Stanley Cup finals — with Gilbert posting a career-best 43 goals and 97 points during the regular season — but they lost to the Boston Bruins in six games as part of the 54-year championship drought that didn’t end until 1994.
“The beauty of it is every year we were sniffing at it and we were coming closer. It was always our hope,” Gilbert told The Post’s “Up in the Blue Seats” podcast last year. “We had everything in place. [Goalie] Eddie Giacomin was a Hall of Famer. We had a solid defense. We had three lines. We had a complete team. I just don’t really know at the end what happened. Every playoffs, somebody put the sticks in the wheels and tripped us up.
“But I don’t have an empty feeling about [not winning the Cup]. I’m really proud of the way that team was formed and the togetherness of our team. When it comes to the playoffs, you know how hard it is to win this thing. I don’t think that much about it because I’m grateful what we accomplished in those years.
“But it would have been nice to win one or two. I see the boys from’94, how popular they are.”
The immensely popular Gilbert was born in Montreal in 1941 and grew up idolizing Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion and the Canadiens before embarking on his hockey career with Guelph of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1957.
Gilbert’s career nearly was derailed in 1960 when he was temporarily paralyzed after breaking his back while slipping on debris thrown on the ice and crashing into the boards, undergoing the first of two spinal-fusion surgeries. The second operation occurred while with the Rangers during the 1965-66 season, and Gilbert was awarded the Masterton Trophy in 1976, given annually for perseverance and dedication to hockey. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982.
The gregarious Gilbert remained a prominent face at the Garden and contributor to the franchise throughout his retirement, serving as an ambassador and community relations representative involved with the Garden of Dreams Foundation and as the team’s director of special projects.
He often joked there were still some Rangers fans he’d yet to meet, “so that’s why I keep coming back.”
“They’re my family, the Ranger fans,” Gilbert added in 2020 on The Post’s podcast. “I came here, my first game I was 18 years old and then I came back at 21 after my injuries and I stayed on ever since. I stayed here during the summers. … And I said, ‘Wow, I found my town.’
“I touched a lot of lives in New York. A lot of these Rangers fans that sent their kids to my camps, I felt like I had a personal relationship with them. And that’s what this was all about.”