1967-68 Topps 90 Rod Gilbert Hockey Card (Front)
1967-68 Topps 90 Rod Gilbert Hockey Card (Back)
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Card Notes
Rod has had back trouble ever since he entered the NHL, playing with a special steel braced “corset”. Had a major operation on his back during the summer of 1966 and it appeared successful as Rod came back last season to play his best hockey for Rangers.
En Français
Rodrigue a eu de la difficulté avec son dos depuis son entrée dans la LHN. Il a subi une opèration majeure au dos en 1966 et il semble qu’elle ait reussi, car Rod connut une de ses meilleures saisons l’an passé.
Details
It seems the back surgery was a success. Rod Gilbert never had “perfect attendance” over the remainder of the career but was never sidelined for any extended amount of time. For the eleven year span starting with 1966-67, Rod failed to reach at least 25 goals just once. He had five seasons with over 30 goals and topped out with 43 in 1971-72.
Gilbert ended his career with seven hat tricks and remains tied for second all-time in the category with Mika Zibanejad, two behind Bill Cook. Two of those seven hat tricks came during the 1966-67 NHL season.
On October 22, 1966 in just New York’s second game of the season, Rod scored three and assisted on a Wayne Hillman goal as the Rangers came back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens. Johnny Bower was in the Toronto nets.
It was another four point night on March 29, 1967 in a 10-5 drubbing of the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. The three goals turned out to be his last of the 1966-67 season. In the same game, teammate Don Marshall also had a four point night on a hat trick and one assist.
Between 1960-61 and 1977-78, Rod Gilbert played 1,065 regular season and 79 playoff games in the National Hockey League, all with the New York Rangers. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982.