Bob Gainey

Robert Michael Gainey (born December 13, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1973 until 1989.

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 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.

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.

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 1976, Gainey was chosen to represent Team Canada at the Canada Cup tournament where he helped Team Canada win the Cup against the Czechoslovakians.

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.

In 1982, Canadiens captain Serge Savard retired from hockey and Gainey was named as his successor.

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 finals 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.

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 finals in his first season.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.

He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.

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.

In 1997, as Stars general manager, Gainey drafted his son Steve Gainey 77th overall in the annual NHL Entry Draft.

In 1998, Gainey was ranked number 86 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

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.

The team won the Presidents' Trophy in 1998 and 1999.

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.

Dallas won the Stanley Cup in 1999.

Gainey won the Stanley Cup a sixth time in 1999 with Dallas.

After retiring from active play, he became a hockey coach and later an executive with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars organization before returning to Montreal as general manager from 2003 to 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 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.

In 2017 Gainey was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

He finished second in scoring for Epinal during the regular season and 18th overall in the Nationale 1B division.