Bob Gainey

Robert Michael Gainey (born December 13, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and executive. He played 16 seasons as a left winger in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens.

Regarded as a shutdown player since his play with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, Gainey was drafted by both the NHL and World Hockey Association as a first round draft pick in 1973, with Gainey choosing to play with the Canadiens. In the season, he was the inaugural winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy for his skill as a defensive forward and he would be awarded the trophy in the following three seasons; he is the only player to win the Selke Trophy in four consecutive seasons. In the 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs, he scored 16 points in 16 games and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for his playoff performance. A four-time All-Star, Gainey was named team captain prior to the season, where he served until his retirement from the NHL in 1989; he played one season as player-coach of the French team Epinal Squirrels. As a player, Gainey won the Stanley Cup five times. In 2008, the Canadiens retired his number 23 jersey, the 14th player to receive the honor.

After retiring as a player, he became a hockey coach for the Minnesota North Stars, which reached the Final in 1991 on a string of upsets before losing in six games. He was named general manager of the team in 1992 and stayed at the position when the team moved to Dallas in 1993. He stepped down as coach in the middle of the season but stayed on as general manager. In his time with Dallas, the team was awarded the Presidents' Trophy twice while reaching the Stanley Cup Final twice, winning once in 1999 for Gainey's sixth Stanley Cup championship. He departed the Stars to become general manager of the Canadiens in 2003, where he served for the next seven years until he resigned in 2010. Currently, Gainey serves as a team consultant for the St. Louis Blues as well as a volunteer senior advisor for the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League.

Gainey was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. In 2017, he was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

Early years Bob Gainey began his hockey career in 1972 with his hometown team, the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League. His lack of scoring was made up for by his impressive ability to shut down opposing players. This impressed many scouts in the NHL and in 1973, he was drafted eighth overall by the Montreal Canadiens. He was also drafted seventh overall by the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA although he never joined the WHA.

Professional years

As a rookie, Gainey was committed to a defensive style of play. In his second year, he was paired up with stars Yvan Cournoyer and Jacques Lemaire on the second line. In 1976, Gainey was chosen to represent Team Canada at the Canada Cup tournament where he helped Team Canada win the Cup against the Czechoslovaks. A defensive specialist, Gainey played with the Montreal Canadiens from 1973–74 to 1988–89, winning four consecutive Frank J. Selke Trophies, awarded to the league's best defensive forward, and four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1976 to 1979.

In 1982, Canadiens captain Serge Savard retired from hockey and Gainey was named as his successor. The Canadiens remained successful in the regular season but in the playoffs, they were defeated in the first round three consecutive times from 1981 to 1983. Next season, the Canadiens earned a disappointing record finishing with 75 points only. Despite that, they embarked on a surprising playoff run before being eliminated in the semifinals by the New York Islanders.

Gainey lifted his last Stanley Cup as a player in 1986 against the Calgary Flames, and scored a playoff total of 5 goals and 10 points. Under Gainey's leadership, the Canadiens posted back to back 100 point seasons in 1988 and 1989. In 1989, the Canadiens reached the Final again against the Calgary Flames, a rematch from 1986. This time, the Flames won the Stanley Cup in 6 games. Following the loss, Gainey announced his retirement.

In total, Bob Gainey played in 1160 regular season games, scored 239 goals, and registered 263 assists. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1998, Gainey was ranked number 86 on The Hockey News''' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

Post hockey playing years After his retirement, Gainey moved to France where he was player-coach for the Epinal Écureuils (Squirrels) of the French Nationale 1B division. His unexpected appearance on the French hockey scene created quite a stir as curious fans attended games to see the famous star in action for Epinal. He finished second in scoring for Epinal during the regular season and 18th overall in the Nationale 1B division.

Gainey returned to North America a year later and became head coach of the Minnesota North Stars in 1990–91, guiding his team to the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Final in his first season. In January 1992, Gainey also was named general manager. In 1996, a few seasons after the franchise relocated to Dallas and became the Dallas Stars, he stepped down as head coach to focus solely on his general manager duties. Gainey turned the franchise into a powerhouse by acquiring players such as Joe Nieuwendyk, Brett Hull, Ed Belfour and Sergei Zubov. The team won the Presidents' Trophy in 1998 and 1999. Dallas won the Stanley Cup in 1999.

In 1997, as Stars general manager, Gainey drafted his son Steve Gainey 77th overall in the annual NHL entry draft. Gainey won the Stanley Cup a sixth time in 1999 with Dallas.

Along with Bobby Clarke and Pierre Gauthier, Gainey was given the responsibility of selecting Canada's men's ice hockey squad for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Gainey became general manager of the Montreal Canadiens in May 2003. On January 13, 2006, Gainey fired Canadiens' head coach Claude Julien and stepped in as head coach on an interim basis. At the same time, he hired Guy Carbonneau to work as an associate coach, handing the coaching reins over to him for the 2006–07 season. On July 24, 2006, Montreal Canadiens president Pierre Boivin extended Gainey's contract to 2009–10.

On February 23, 2008, the Canadiens retired Gainey's #23 jersey.

On March 9, 2009, Gainey named himself the interim coach of the Montreal Canadiens after firing Guy Carbonneau. On June 1, 2009, he signed Jacques Martin as the new head coach. On February 8, 2010, he resigned as the Canadiens general manager for personal reasons, and was succeeded by Gauthier. The Canadiens were 28-26-6 at the time of his resignation. He remained on as a consultant to the team until the end of the 2011–12 season, following the firing of Pierre Gauthier, when it was mutually agreed, between Gainey and team President Geoff Molson, that he step down.

On May 9, 2012, the Dallas Stars announced Gainey's hiring as a team consultant.

On October 1, 2014, the St. Louis Blues announced Gainey's hiring as a team consultant. In 2022, he was inducted into the Stars Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class.

Awards and achievements Frank J. Selke Trophy winner in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981. Selected to the NHL All-Star Game in 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981. Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 1979. Stanley Cup championships in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986 (as player), 1999 (as general manager). Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1998, Gainey was ranked number 86 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. His #23 was retired by the Montreal Canadiens on February 23, 2008.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1971–72 Peterborough Petes OHA-Jr. 1 0 0 0 31 — — — — — 1972–73 Peterborough Petes OHA-Jr. 5222214399 — — — — — 1973–74 Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 3 7 10 34 6 0 0 0 6 1973–74 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 6 2 5 7 4 — — — — — 1974–75 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 17 20 37 49 11 2 4 6 4 1975–76 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 15 13 28 57 13 1 3 4 20 1976–77 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 14 19 33 41 14 4 1 5 25 1977–78 Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 15 16 31 57 15 2 7 9 14 1978–79 Montreal Canadiens NHL 79 20 18 38 44 16 6 10 16 10 1979–80 Montreal Canadiens NHL 64 14 19 33 32 10 1 1 2 4 1980–81 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 23 24 47 36 3 0 0 0 2 1981–82 Montreal Canadiens NHL 79 21 24 45 24 5 0 1 1 8 1982–83 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 12 18 30 43 3 0 0 0 4 1983–84 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 17 22 39 41 15 1 5 6 9 1984–85 Montreal Canadiens NHL 79 19 13 32 40 12 1 3 4 13 1985–86 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 20 23 43 20 20 5 5 10 12 1986–87 Montreal Canadiens NHL 47 8 8 16 19 17 1 3 4 6 1987–88 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 11 11 22 14 6 0 1 1 6 1988–89 Montreal Canadiens NHL 49 10 7 17 34 16 1 4 5 8 1989–90 Epinal Squirrels France-2 18 14 12 26 16 10 6 7 13 14 NHL totals 1,160 239 262 501 585 182 25 48 73 151 International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1976 Canada CC 5 2 0 2 2 1981 Canada CC 7 1 3 4 2 1982 Canada WC 10 2 1 3 0 1983 Canada WC 10 0 6 6 2 Senior totals 32 5 10 15 6

NHL coaching record Team Year Regular season Post season G W L T OTL Pts Finish ResultMIN1990–9180273914-684th in NorrisLost in Stanley Cup Final (PIT)MIN1991–928032426-704th in NorrisLost in first roundMIN1992–9384363810-825th in NorrisMissed playoffsDAL1993–9484422913-973rd in CentralLost in second roundDAL1994–954817238-425th in Central Lost in first roundDAL1995–963911199-(66)(stepped down) MTL2005–06412315-3(93)3rd in NortheastLost in first roundMTL2008–091666-4(93)2nd in NortheastLost in first roundTotal 472 194 211 60 7

Personal life Bob Gainey, with his wife Cathy, were parents to one son and three daughters: Steve (whom he drafted in the 1997 NHL entry draft), Colleen, Anna (the former president of the Liberal Party of Canada and Canadian member of parliament (MP) for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount), and Laura.

Gainey's wife Cathy died in June 1995 at age 39 of brain cancer. Gainey's daughter, Laura, died at age 25 in December 2006, when she was swept overboard while sailing in the North Atlantic on the barque Picton Castle, a sail-training tall ship based out of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, registered in the Cook Islands and destined for Grenada. Laura's body was never recovered, and the U.S. Coast Guard called off the search on December 11, three days after she was swept overboard. During this time, Gainey temporarily passed his general manager duties on to Montreal Canadiens assistant manager (and eventual successor) Pierre Gauthier for four weeks. On January 3, 2007, officials in the Cook Islands named Captain Andrew Scheer to head an investigation into Laura's death. Captain Scheer interviewed the 30-strong crew and examined the ship's logs, emergency equipment and crew qualifications. Laura's death and the subsequent investigations received considerable press attention in Canada, including a documentary produced by the CBC News program The Fifth Estate, which was highly critical of safety standards on Picton Castle''.