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Bob Gainey
Bobgainey
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Height
Weight
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
Teams Montreal Canadiens
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born December 13,1953,
Peterborough, ON, CAN
NHL Draft 8th overall, 1973
Montreal Canadiens
WHA Draft 7th Overall, 1973
Minnesota Fighting Saints
Pro Career 1973 – 1989
Hall of Fame, 1992

Robert Michael "Bob" Gainey (born December 13, 1953, in Peterborough, Ontario) is the current executive vice president, general manager, and head coach of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is also a former professional player who played for the Canadiens from 1973 until 1989. After retiring from active play, he became a hockey coach and later an executive with the NHL Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars organization before returning to Montreal in 2003 as general manager.

Junior Career[]

From 1970 to 1973, Gainey had his junior start with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League.

NHL Career[]

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 five Stanley Cups (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986). In 1973, Gainey was drafted into both the WHA and the NHL. The Montreal Canadiens had selected him in the first round, 8th overall in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft and the Minnesota Fighting Saints had also drafted him in the first round, 7th overall in the 1973 WHA Amateur Draft. Gainey never played in the WHA as he spent his entire career playing for the Canadiens in the NHL. He was team captain of the Canadiens from 1981 until his retirement in 1989.

Gainey played for Canada in the 1976 and 1981 Canada Cups and the 1982 and 1983 World Championships.

In total, he played in 1160 regular season games, scored 239 goals, and registered 263 assists. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. For the majority of his career he was regarded by many in the Soviet Union hockey system as the greatest hockey player ever. Gainey was described as the world's best all-around player by legendary Soviet national team coach Anatoli Tarasov.

In 1998, Gainey was ranked number 86 on List of 100 greatest hockey players by The Hockey News. Gainey's name went on the Stanley Cup a 6th time in 1999 as General Manager with Dallas. On March 09, 2009, Gainey returned as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens after firing Guy Carbonneau. He currently serves as General Manager and Head Coach of the Montreal Canadiens.

Career Statistics[]

    Regular season
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM
1971–72 Peterborough Petes OHA 4 2 1 3 33
1972–73 Peterborough Petes OHA 52 22 21 43 99
1973–74 Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 3 7 10 34
1973–74 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 6 2 5 7 4
1974–75 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 17 20 37 49
1975–76 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 15 13 28 57
1976–77 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 14 19 33 41
1977–78 Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 15 16 31 57
1978–79 Montreal Canadiens NHL 79 20 18 38 44
1979–80 Montreal Canadiens NHL 64 14 19 33 32
1980–81 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 23 24 47 36
1981–82 Montreal Canadiens NHL 79 21 24 45 24
1982–83 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 12 18 30 43
1983–84 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 17 22 39 41
1984–85 Montreal Canadiens NHL 79 19 13 32 40
1985–86 Montreal Canadiens NHL 80 20 23 43 20
1986–87 Montreal Canadiens NHL 47 8 8 16 19
1987–88 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 11 11 22 14
1988–89 Montreal Canadiens NHL 49 10 7 17 34
NHL totals 1139 239 262 501 585
OMJHL totals 56 24 22 46 132
AHL totals 6 2 5 7 10


Management Career[]

After his retirement, Gainey moved to France where he was player/coach for the Epinal Écureuil. 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. In January 1992, Gainey also was named general manager. In 1993, after the franchise relocated to Dallas, 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. Steve is currently playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs in the AHL.

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

Gainey became general manager of the Montreal Canadiens in May 2003 turning the Canadiens into a playoff contender. 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 2006–2007 season. On July 24, 2006, Montreal Canadiens president Pierre Boivin extended Gainey's contract to 2009–2010.

On February 23, 2008, the Canadiens retired Gainey's #23 jersey. On March 09, 2009, Gainey returned as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens after firing Guy Carbonneau.

NHL Coaching Record[]

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish Result
MIN 1990–91 80 27 39 14 - 68 4th in Norris Lost in Cup Finals
MIN 1991–92 80 32 42 6 - 70 4th in Norris Lost in First Round
MIN 1992–93 84 36 38 10 - 82 5th in Norris Missed Playoffs
DAL 1993–94 84 42 29 13 - 97 3rd in Central Lose in Second Round
DAL 1994–95 48 17 23 8 - 42 5th in Central Lost in First Round
DAL 1995–96 39 11 19 9 - (66) 6th in Central (fired)
MTL 2005–06 41 23 15 - 5 (93) 3rd in Northeast Lose in First Round
MTL 2008–09 16 6 6 - 4 (93) 2nd in Northeast Lost in First Round
Total 472 194 211 60 7

Gallery[]

External Links[]

Preceded by
New Award
Winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy
1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Succeeded by
Steve Kasper
Preceded by
Larry Robinson
Winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy
1979
Succeeded by
Bryan Trottier
Preceded by
Serge Savard
Montreal Canadiens Captains
198189
Succeeded by
Guy Carbonneau
Chris Chelios
Preceded by
Pierre Page
Head Coaches of the Minnesota North Stars/Wild
199093
Succeeded by
Jacques Lemaire
Preceded by
first coach
Head Coaches of the Dallas Stars
199395
Succeeded by
Ken Hitchcock
Preceded by
Bobby Clarke
General Manager of the Minnesota North Stars/Wild
1992–93
Succeeded by
Doug Risebrough
Preceded by
first general manager
General Manager of the Dallas Stars
19932002
Succeeded by
Doug Armstrong
Preceded by
Andre Savard
General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens
2003 – present
Succeeded by
incumbent
Preceded by
Claude Julien
Head Coaches of the Montreal Canadiens
2006 (interim)
Succeeded by
Guy Carbonneau
Preceded by
Guy Carbonneau
Head Coaches of the Montreal Canadiens
2009 (interim) – present
Incumbent
Dallas Stars Head Coaches
Gainey • Hitchcock • Wilson • TippettCrawfordGulutzanRuff • Hitchcock • MontgomeryBowness


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Bob Gainey. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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