1972-73 O-Pee-Chee 269 Jim Roberts Hockey Card (Front)
1972-73 O-Pee-Chee 269 Jim Roberts Hockey Card (Back)
1972-73 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
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Card Notes
Jim was valuable enough in the eyes of Coach Scotty Bowman that Canadiens, who had let him go to Bowman’s St. Louis Blues in the 1967 Expansion Draft, reacquired the hard worker midway through the 1971-72 season.
En Français
Jim, qui avait été libéré par les Canadiens lors du repêchage de l’expansion de 1967, revint aux Canadiens au milieu de la saison 1971-72.
Details
Jim Roberts was the first non-goaltender selected by the St. Louis Blues in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft from the Montreal Canadiens. Behind Gord Labossiere and Dave Balon, he was the third non-goalie picked overall in the draft. He served the Blues well, helping the club reach the Stanley Cup final in each of their first three seasons in the league.
On December 13, 1971, he was traded back to the Habs, in exchange for Phil Roberto. Roberts and Scotty Bowman were often found together on the same team. Starting in major junior with the Peterborough TPT’s (Petes), Bowman coached Jimmy with Hull-Ottawa Canadiens in 1962-63, the Omaha Knights in 1963-64 and the with the Blues and Canadiens for ten years from 1967-68 to 1976-77.
In his back and forth between Montreal and St. Louis, Roberts returned to the Blues one last time for the 1977-78 NHL season, his last in the NHL as a player. Along with his three trips to the Stanley Cup final with St. Louis, Jim was also part of five championship teams in Montreal.
Roberts would go to a coaching career in the league after hanging up the blades. Between 1979-80 and 2001-02, he mostly served as an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres (again, alongside Bowman), Pittsburgh Penguins, Hartford Whalers and St. Louis Blues. In a three year stint in the AHL as head coach of the Springfield Indians, he coached the franchise to consecutive Calder Cup championships in 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Over his playing career, Jim played in 1,006 regular season and 153 playoff games between 1963-64 and 1977-78 with the Habs and Blues.