Tribute Rod Gilbert passes; aged 80 years old

[E-Train]

RIP Rod. 80 is too young nowadays. All time legend.

 

[Cag29]

R.I.P. Ranger legend.

 

[Section311]

 

[Mike in Houston]

They better do something nice. Should wear a big ol' 7 patch the whole year.

He once wished my dad a happy birthday. He's a nice man.

Exactly. I think they will.

Did they do a helmet decal for Steven McDonald?

 

[Irishguy42]

Bettman's response to the passing of Gilbert
NHL.com Media Site

 

[Cmox]

f*** this is a tough one for me

 

[RGY]

RIP to a Legend

 

[Ratelleitlikeitis]

Well let's spell his name correctly in the thread title. RIP to one of our finest. The GAG line wouldn't have been what it was without Rod.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

This hurts. My condolences to his family. He was a great man.

He will go down as the one of if not THE best Ranger player to have ever lived. But I’m not going to talk about what he did on the ice.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Gilbert many times.

I’ve had the outrageous experiences of him being in the locker room giving me a pep talk, coaching me a in a charity game, working with him at arena events and even having him sit with me for a period during a playoff game at MSG.

It seemed like I would run into him every few years and every time he was the same. Smiling. This man was always so positive. His smile lit up the room.

He was a classy, gracious man who absolutely loved the game of hockey, the city of New York and his extended family of current players and Ranger alumni.

I can say this with absolute certainty - there is no other player, past or present who embraced being a New Yorker and Ranger more than Rod Gilbert.

He beamed with pride and adored being a Ranger. He is the truest of blue.

This is a huge loss. He was the patriarch of the New York Rangers family. He is a big reason why the Rangers have such a rich history, both on and off the ice.

He was always there at as many events as he could be representing the team and he loved every moment of it.

He enjoyed life. He will be missed, greatly. RIP Rod

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

Didn’t know that Warhol had done a portrait of him, how awesome and deserving

 

[ncmike]

f*** this is a tough one for me

Agree. I started with the Rangers in 1965. I was 7. My mom got me involved with hockey. She was from St John NB.
This definitely hurts.

 

[TominNC]

This is painful. RIP Mr. Ranger.

 

[GAGLine]

Forever a Ranger. He will be sorely missed. I've met him a few times and got to skate on the MSG ice with him and have dinner with him one night. A true class act.

 

[rangerfan_79]

It was an honor to have met him at one of the home games a few years back.

Great personality and presence.

RIP RG

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

It’s no surprise that it’s only been two pages in this thread and there’s multiple personal experiences with Rod, all positive.

He was a true ambassador of the game, the Rangers and he loved any opportunity to interact with fans.

 

[Bluenote13]

Roger Bear. That's how 2 year old me said his name. He was the first Ranger I knew of thanks to my father who would pretend to be Rod Gilbert during our kitchen floor hockey matches. Sounded like Roger Bear to me ! So forever in our family he was affectionately given that nickname.

Legend on and off the ice , he'll always be Mr. Ranger, RIP.

 

[UnSandvich]

this.
f***ing.
sucks.

 

[Bluto]

Very sad day. I was friends with Rod. One of the nicest guys you could know.

 

[UnSandvich]

Genuinely, this might be the shittiest summer of Rangers stuff since i became a fan. Shitty draft, shitty Buchnevich trade, shitty free agency, Really shitty Lundqvist retirement, and now this too.

 

[broadwayblue]

Perhaps a mod can correct the spelling?

 

[bl02]

Oh man wtf!!! I can’t believe it. The amount of energy he brought to the stands in the garden with his infectious smile was so rare nowadays. Very sad RIP

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

RIP. He was such a nice guy, I was fortunate to meet him at a suite in MSG before a game. Super nice and talked to me for longer than I would’ve ever expected and actually talked to me and asked me about myself and stuff.

You couldn’t ask for a better ambassador for the game and for the Rangers.

 

[GraveyGuy]

I really thought handsome Rod would live forever. I cannot imagine any kind of special MSG night without him being introduced, smiling at the crowd, breaking into his little trot, making his two fisted salute to all the fans. What an ambassador for the team.
For years and years, his number 7 was the only number hanging from the rafters.
This one hits me hard.

 

[RickChartraw]

time waits for no one. god damn

 

[PolishPrince21]

I met the man once at a rangers/isles game at msg in 2003. Even though i had my isles jersey on he still took a few minutes to talk to me and my gf who is a rangers fan. Very nice man, rip to your legend.